To get from Asia to Europe, where the main part of my trip to Africa was starting, I booked a cheap (about 250 USD) one-way ticket from Jeju to London via Beijing Capital on Air China. The first flight of that ticket was my first flight through mainland China since 2018 when I flew from Vancouver to Japan on Xiamen Airlines.
Continue reading this review to see what the two-hour economy class flight on Air China’s Boeing 737-800 was like.
Check-in, Lounge & Boarding at Jeju Airport
I tried to check in online before the flight, however, I wasn’t able to do so since it seems like at this point, Jeju – Beijing is one of the routes on which Air China does not offer online check-in.
As such, after arriving from Seoul on an Asiana Airlines A330-300, I spent a few minutes on Jeju Airport’s observation deck before heading downstairs to see Air China’s check-in desks. While it was still almost an hour before check in would open, there was already a long line of people waiting to check in for their flight.
Not having eaten much during the day, I headed to the airport’s foodcourt and had some bibimbap before returning to the counters just in time before they would open at 7:10PM. I was flying in economy class but fortunately could use the business class counters thanks to my Star Alliance Gold status. Because of that, I had my boarding passes in just a couple of minutes.
At this point, I could have headed to the Asiana Lounge, which is located before security and serves both domestic and international Star Alliance flights departing Jeju. With the lounge being nothing to write home about, however, I decided to head through security and immigration and wait airside instead.
When I got to the security check, there was a small queue as the check was not open yet (due to the limited number of international flights at Jeju, it is not open continuously). The queue started moving about fifteen minutes after I lined up and from there it took another few minutes to clear security and immigration.
Since there is no airside lounge in Jeju Airport’s international terminal, I got a bottle of tea in the terminal’s shop and waited in front of our departure gate, gate 16, for boarding to start.
At this time, it was around 7:40PM – two hours before the flight’s scheduled departure time of 9:40PM. As such, it wasn’t until more than an hour after I got to the gate that the plane which would take me to Beijing arrived. Rather than parking at gate 16, however, it parked at a remote spot.
Boarding started around 9:30PM. I got held up at the gate briefly as the staff tried to print me a new boarding pass. It turned out that he wanted to do so because my name would be cut in half if he cut the stub off at the perforated line. Failing to reprint the boarding pass, he instead decided to rip the boarding pass in two pieces at a different place.
Once the “problem” was solved, I got on a bus that was already waiting on the apron, and within a few minutes, we pulled up in front of a nine years old Boeing 737-800 registered B-1768, which was delivered to Air China straight from Boeing’s factory in 2015.
The boarding itself was a bit chaotic with people blocking the aisle and taking time to settle in their seats, but ultimately I made it to my aisle seat 18C.
Air China 737-800 Cabin & Seat
Air China operates the 737-800 in a few different cabin configurations. The aircraft that operated my flight from Jeju to Beijing was equipped with a total of 159 seats including 12 in business class and 147 in economy class.
The business class seats were large, comfortably looking recliners in a 2-2 layout.
In economy class, the seats were in the standard 3-3 layout.
The 31-inch seat pitch provided for an average legroom that didn’t stand out against the airline’s competitors but was perfectly fine for the short, two-hour flight. The seats were well padded.
There were individual air vents on the overhead panels.
Unfortunately, the seats did not have any of the features that many airlines tend to offer on their 737s and A320s even in economy class nowadays. Most notably, the seats were USB ports and power outlets. That left passengers with no charging options given Air China’s ban on in-flight use of power banks (although I am not sure to what extent that is enforced).
The seats lacked personal entertainment screens too.
Air China Flight 712 Departure
A couple of minutes before 10PM, a safety video featuring pandas among others was played on overhead screens.
We taxied out of the remote spot 21 minutes behind schedule, at 10:01PM. At 10:07PM, we took off from Jeju Airport’s runway 25 and started making our way toward Beijing.
As soon as we were in the air, an announcement unique to flying on Chinese airlines including “I am the security team leader of this flight. According to the requirements of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, it is my duty to inform all passengers on the cabin security of this flight” and “according to the law of the People’s Republic of China, the passenger cabin is a public space, and will be subjected to audio and video collection” was played.
Another 20 minutes or so later, the captain welcomed us onboard, mentioned we would be cruising at 32,000 feet, and that our expected flight time was one hour and 50 minutes.
Air China Short-Haul Economy Class Light Meal
The seatbelt signs were switched off about half an hour after take-off. A few minutes after that, the meal service started. With the entire cabin smelling like bananas shortly after, it didn’t take long to know what would be on the menu among other things.
The meal was served in a cardboard box that included packaged plain bread roll (no butter provided) and muffing, a small wafer, and a banana. While there was the usual selection of soft drinks including sodas and juices, I decided to just get a cup of water.
While the meal was nothing to write home about, it was still better than what is provided by airlines in Europe on flights of similar length, for example. I also liked the fact that the meal was served in a box as it allowed me to then put the box in the seat pocket while waiting for the cabin crew to come collect it.
Air China 737-800 In-Flight Entertainment System
At some point during the flight, a documentary about nature was played on the overhead screens. That said, while the seat was equipped with an audio system, no earphones were provided.
Separately from that and the in-flight magazine in the seat pocket, a selection of entertainment including movies, TV shows (a lot of documentaries about nature), music (mostly classical), and games was available to stream through the aircraft’s wi-fi network.
Air China 737-800 Onboard Wi-Fi
While there was an onboard wi-fi network, it was there only to stream entertainment from Air China’s library. There was no internet access, free or paid.
Arrival at Beijing Capital Airport
Other than a person in the row in front of me reclining her seat abruptly and smashing the head of my neighbor, which resulted in a brief argument between them, the rest of the flight was uneventful.
At 10:35PM local time, we started our descent toward Beijing and at 11:10PM, we landed on Beijing Capital Airport’s runway 01.
We reached our arrival gate E53 at 11:18PM, 18 minutes behind schedule.
Air China 737-800 Economy Class Summary
Other than lacking charging options, the ride on Air China’s Boeing 737-800 in economy class was about as comfortable as it gets.
While the meal was fairly plain, the volume was more than sufficient for the late night departure.