At the door I was greeted by the purser and one of the business class flight attendants, and escorted to my seat. This version of the 737 has 12 business class seats, spread across three rows in a 2-2 configuration.
Continue reading: Review: Air China Business Class 737 Beijing To Ulaanbaatar
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Rather puzzled by the remark about 'civilised' boarding by the other passengers...were you expecting a chimpanzees tea party or Fred Carno's Circus to swing up the aisle?
Re the slippers - In China it's common to wear slippers inside the home, hence the slippers being provided even for a short flight.
So the FA sit in biz empty? Is there an FA sit next to you? Do you have a good chat?
> Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like the taxiway had a significant downwards slope.
Not your imagination! Ulaanbaatar airport has the runway on quite a slope and for anything larger than a small private prop plane, the runway has to be used landing in one way, and taking off in the other (basically like a bigger version of Lukla). This is because of the mountains off the eastern end of the runway (seen in the picture as you turned off the runway).
Nice write up Ben, but to be honest almost pointless spending the extra miles or cash on this route and I'm sure economy was just as good on this short flight.
Since the food you had all looked awful it would not be worth the extra in my view.
I have been in both airport that you mention, Alasdair. Yes, I also noticed about the slope of the taxiway. But Lukla is an extreme version, because it's shorter and the slope is more pronounced.
I took many domestic flights (in a small planes) from Ulaanbaatar. I think you feel more the slope in those planes.
Good memories looking the photos of Ulaanbaatar. It's a nice country.
Still so many photos after the landing preparation which started 30 minutes before landing when the cabin crew asked all electronics to be shut down.
Seems you broke the rules, Hah.
To be fair, it might not have been a relief pilot. He could have been jumpseating, deadheading, commuting; there are any number of reasons he was on that flight in uniform...
Great review! I would not have used the pillow or blanket either after the finding the garbage in your seat back.
Just wondering, on these international flights do they have the 'Security Officer' come over the PA and tell everyone not to disobey the laws as they do on domestic flights? Always feel bad for the flight attendants having to tell everyone to turn their phones off and sit down every few seconds as soon as you hit the tarmac. Living here and flying.. I've never seen one Chinese person completely follow the rules on a flight.
I googled yurt resort and still don't have a good understanding of what this is (i.e. yurt,) can anybody please advise?
Also, I'm not familiar with seat 3L i.e. an "L" series denomination on a boeing 737 (typically A and C one side, D and F on the other for example.) Is the L for real?
Chinese airlines even have a limited supply of pillows and blankets on domestic flights, in economy. Compared to American counterparts, the experience in economy is typically much better (meals, checked bags, etc.)
A yurt is that round Mongolian tent probably commonly seen there:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurt
I am inclined to think the pilot sitting in business class that you saw was actually the Security Officer onboard. More than often than not, they don't have much to do, especially on an early flight to Ulaanbaatar
I had an Air China flight MUC - PEK - SIN in C... arrived early morning , had breakfast and a shower in the lounge , got the free short term visa , went in to Bejing for some sight seeing-continued over night to SIN.
Service and sleeping comfort on both legs was nice (not to compare with SQ though )
The efficiency and friendlyness of immigration , customs and even security was amazing.
Everybody had a few friendly words in English for me .
In town I felt very safe ; even many locals could speak a little English.
How many foreign languages has the US counterpart to offer to tourists ?
How many smiles from customs , immigration and security towards a foreigner ?
The ticket price was VERY reasonable ..GOOD value for money 🙂