I've recently booked a return from Gatwick to Bangkok for 💷 380 arriving next month, 23kg baggage allowance, decent travel times with a 3 hour stopover (PKK) & 90 minutes on the return.

The next cheapest I could find was over 200 more with Ethiad, I've been doing a bit of research & the apparent reason they offer cheaper fares is access to Russian airspace allowing a more direct route.

1st impressions are good after having initially booked they offer free seat selection, Just wondering as this will be my 1st time with air China if any other BM's have used them & have any insights? Anything to be aware of transiting through Bejing?

Try using TikTok for reviews, people seem to love videoing their flights nowadays and you’ll usually be able to see the food and leg space

I noticed these prices yesterday, Im just waiting a few days before booking to firm up other plans first but it looks like a great deal.

The other Chinese airlines also seem to be quite cheap at the moment but not as much so as Air China. I've not flown them before but have flown China Eastern and was a bit apprehensive in doing so. While it was nothing special it wasnt bad either, they got me there on time with the minimum of fuss at a good price and transfer in Shanghai was simple

10 minutes ago, gmingot said:

I noticed these prices yesterday, Im just waiting a few days before booking to firm up other plans first but it looks like a great deal.

The other Chinese airlines also seem to be quite cheap at the moment but not as much so as Air China. I've not flown them before but have flown China Eastern and was a bit apprehensive in doing so. While it was nothing special it wasnt bad either, they got me there on time with the minimum of fuss at a good price and transfer in Shanghai was simple

I'm flying in 3 weeks so I'll put a review here, forgot to mention this was skyscanner booking through 3rd party agent, there was barely any difference booking with air china itself but despite it coming up as available it wouldn't let me book, just came up with an error message on the air China website, ended up booking through trip.com.

Not Chinese but cheap

One way seat only tomorrow LGW-BKK.

Would be interesting to see if it is actually available? I did a dummy booking up to the point of entering card details but suspect it will be rejected at that point and a more expensive alternative suggested

Edited August 25Aug 25 by gmingot

On 24/08/2026 at 18:53, Captain Corrigan said:

I'm flying in 3 weeks so I'll put a review here, forgot to mention this was skyscanner booking through 3rd party agent, there was barely any difference booking with air china itself but despite it coming up as available it wouldn't let me book, just came up with an error message on the air China website, ended up booking through trip.com.

Been on Chinese carriers myself and all good

Minor gripe is certainly with Air China and China Eastern is you can only check in online if you've bought direct from the airline (not something I'd ever do anyway) if ticket is purchased via an agent

The upside to that though is if you get to airport as check in opens you're much guaranteed a preferred seat as most others will be in the same boat

Edited August 26Aug 26 by KyleReading

16 hours ago, gmingot said:

Not Chinese but cheap

One way seat only tomorrow LGW-BKK.

Would be interesting to see if it is actually available? I did a dummy booking up to the point of entering card details but suspect it will be rejected at that point and a more expensive alternative suggested

No it was real.....Condor often sell off at last minute. Seen it frequently

Etihad has started a campaign for several European cities to BKK. E.g. Prague and Vienna from 500 EUR return. I would also look into Norse if you're flying from UK or Norway/Sweden. You can get one way tickets for similar prices as the Condor example.

I've always flown direct with EVA from Heathrow but the prices are getting up to £800 return now. I'm already booked for my next Trip on 25th September but going forward i'm going to have to seriously reconsider a longer flight/layover if the direct flight prices remain so high. The Air China ones looks like a great deal however, as a nervous flyer, I would be shitting myself flying over Russia while RUS/UKR is going on.

On 01/09/2026 at 00:35, cheeky_smoke said:

I've always flown direct with EVA from Heathrow but the prices are getting up to £800 return now. I'm already booked for my next Trip on 25th September but going forward i'm going to have to seriously reconsider a longer flight/layover if the direct flight prices remain so high. The Air China ones looks like a great deal however, as a nervous flyer, I would be shitting myself flying over Russia while RUS/UKR is going on.

I fly returns on China-Eastern every couple-of-months, the connection in Shanghai-Pudong can be 4-5 hours but the routing over Russia is well North of Moscow, and never a problem.

12 hours ago, semi-retired member said:

I fly returns on China-Eastern every couple-of-months, the connection in Shanghai-Pudong can be 4-5 hours but the routing over Russia is well North of Moscow, and never a problem.

Yeah logically I know that a pilot would never fly over anywhere they believe to be dangerous, but when i'm actually on the plane the logical part of my brain stops functioning unfortunately 😂

No politics. Post removed.

I'm concerned with today's news, only 2 weeks out from flying, no emails from air China yet, just keep looking at flight info & hoping if things continue they might re-route over central Asia.

Looking on flightradar24 the air corridor over Russia is pretty busy right now with lots of Chinese and other airlines so should be ok for you.

2 hours ago, Captain Corrigan said:

I'm concerned with today's news, only 2 weeks out from flying, no emails from air China yet, just keep looking at flight info & hoping if things continue they might re-route over central Asia.

Im not sure what today's news was but the Air China route from London to Beijing took the path below today

"Im not sure what today's news was"

"We want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, everyone who still uses key Russian airports: the Russian sky is becoming completely dangerous" - a warning issued today, not sure if I am allowed to say who by due to the politics involved, but the story is on the BBC website for people to read

Yeah, Russia airspace is a big no no...I'll pay the extra.

8 hours ago, Captain Corrigan said:

I'm concerned with today's news, only 2 weeks out from flying, no emails from air China yet, just keep looking at flight info & hoping if things continue they might re-route over central Asia.

Why are you concerned? If the ticket has been issued most major airlines dont sent emails unless there is a scheduled change until the (promotional) notice most carriers sent a few days before departure

13 hours ago, jaynewcastle said:

"Im not sure what today's news was"

"We want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer, everyone who still uses key Russian airports: the Russian sky is becoming completely dangerous" - a warning issued today, not sure if I am allowed to say who by due to the politics involved, but the story is on the BBC website for people to read

When you read the whole article it seems the warning is more about flights actually using the airports in Russia ,not actually really about the whole of russian airspace.

"directed the warning to airlines continuing to operate flights to Russian airports, especially in major cities like St Petersburg and Moscow."

I assume this is more to drone activity being a risk to them as the land / take off,.

So I'd guess that pass through traffic flying at high altitude over russian airspace is not so much a issue,at least that's what ii would understand from the news.

I wouldn't worry about flying over Russian airspace on Air China

There is little chance anyone wants the kind of diplomatic incident it would create if one of those were affected

On 26/08/2026 at 02:32, KyleReading said:

Been on Chinese carriers myself and all good

Minor gripe is certainly with Air China and China Eastern is you can only check in online if you've bought direct from the airline (not something I'd ever do anyway) if ticket is purchased via an agent

The upside to that though is if you get to airport as check in opens you're much guaranteed a preferred seat as most others will be in the same boat

I am experiencing this myself. The website is not very helpful and does not state this but it does seem to be the case

Edited Saturday at 14:382 days by gmingot

15 hours ago, gmingot said:

I am experiencing this myself. The website is not very helpful and does not state this but it does seem to be the case

Yes it is the case. I checked on frequent flyer forums when I first used China Eastern couple years ago and unfortunately it is.....personally am not that bothered because am always at airports 4 hours early but if you turn up late getting a preferred seat may be difficult