gary2rep

Going to Melbourne next month, flying from Heathrow to Beijing, one night stopover in Beijing, then Beijing to Melbourne. Anyone flew with China Airways and would you use them again.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Gazza

HiddenPaw

Do you mean China Airlines? They do actually have one of the worst safety records of all airlines. (Air travel is the safest way to travel but some airlines are safer than others, I guess). Their record has improved in the last couple of years tho.

Good luck

Pollyana

:scared: :scared:

Grayling

China airlines are based in China so if you are going to Bejing then HP is right.
Air China is based in Taiwan and are a separate concern.
Also have something of a history. My son has flown with both and they are OK.

Don't concern yourself too much with Safety.
Singapore airlines (who seem to be everyone's favourite) had a plane (747) crash not that long ago with massive loss of life.
Shit happens.

Best wishes

G

gary2rep

Just been informed that it is air china that we're flying with and not china airways (apparently 2 different airlines????) Thanks for the reply anyway.
Gazza

Grayling

Gazza
See above.

G

gary2rep

Thanks G

ScuntoBris

Was it this crash?

http://www.getforme.com/tragedy_sq006.htm

Wol

If you are happy driving a car or having an operation you should be happy flying with anyone!

Having said that, there are airlines from some parts of the world I would be happier avoiding if there was a choice....

lucyb

OMG!:scared:

I work in longhaul travel.

Enough said!

:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

Seriously though, you are 26 times more likely to die in a car crash on the way to the airport.

Godspeed!!!

JackTheLad

Hi Gazza,

Just so you're not confused by the airline you're flying -

Air China is based in mainland China - if you're going via Beijing you're definitely on Air China.

China Airlines is based in Taiwan - they don't have any flights to mainland China yet.

The infamous airline with very bad safety record in the 80's and 90's was China Airlines. Many of the pilots were once military pilots - but that's not too different from other commercial airlines. (Military pilots are very often retrained to fly commercial.) I used to travel a lot between Asia and North Ameria for school or work, and never travelled on China Airlines even when it offered the cheapest tickets. The reputation back then was really that bad - no exaggeration!

However the airline has made some major improvements in recent years - better aircraft maintenance, increasing safety standards, hiring better pilots and starting pilot training programs in Australia, etc. I will be less reluctant to fly with them now than I was 5 years ago.

Cheers,
Mrs JTL

gary2rep

Thanks Mrs JTL for the info, everything booked anyway, so fingers crossed. What part of N.Ireland are you from?, I was born in Lurgan Hospital and still go and see family there.
Gazza

JackTheLad

No problem. The international flights on Air China are not bad - the only trouble is understanding the flight attendents' accent.

What part of N. Ireland I'm from?! Hmmm.... Hong Kong! Husband JTL is from "sunny" Bangor!

I love it here in Bangor near the beach, especially in the summer. Today is another fabulous day - we're having barbeque again, like most weekends in the past 2 months. Still can't understand why we are moving away?! Hubby says it's because we've already sold the house to his parents...

There's no going back now...

Cheers,
Mrs JTL

gary2rep

Where abouts in Oz are you headed?, hopefully we'll be in Melbourne by Christmas (fingers crossed).
Enjoy the BBQ and the good weather in Bangor.

JackTheLad

We're going to Brisbane in August. Don't know which area we'll settle in or where we'll be working yet - still doing research on the web.

The BBQ's going well - JTL's working on it - ribs, sausages, drumsticks, corn, mushrooms, and of course some local new potatos... Better go help before the meat's burnt.

All the best,
Mrs JTL