BRUTALLY HONEST Review of China Eastern Airlines' long-haul ECONOMY on the B777-300ER and A330-200

China Eastern Airlines is one of China's big three airlines next to Air China and China Southern. But what are their catering, legroom, and seats like in comparison?

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*FLIGHT INFORMATION*
Airline: China Eastern Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER / Airbus A330-200
Registration: B-2002 / B-5926
Flight Time: 10h 30min / 2h 20min
Seat: 64A / 70L
From: Frankfurt Rhein-Main
Via: Shanghai Pudong
To: Tokyo Narita
Date: December 2023

*PRICE BREAKDOWN*
Total Price: EUR 575.99
Total Routing: FRA-PVG-NRT
Cost includes: Economy Class Ticket including two checked bags and free seat reservation at booking
Booking made: September 2023

*VIDEO BREAKDOWN*
00:00 - Introduction
00:58 - Intro
01:19 - Frankfurt Airport
02:36 - About China Eastern Airlines
04:04 - Cabin and Seat
06:47 - Taxi and Take Off
08:30 - Dinner Service
10:51 - Inflight Entertainment and WiFi
12:15 - Mid-Flight Snack Service
13:08 - Breakfast Service
14:29 - Approach and Landing
15:16 - Transiting at PVG
18:14 - A330-200 Flight to Tokyo NRT
22:12 - Conclusion
23:12 - Narita Airport

*COLLABORATION DISCLAIMER*
This video does not contain product placements. The airline was neither involved nor informed about the production of this video. The ticket fare was paid by ourselves.

*ANIMATED MAP*
Map Data by: OpenStreetMap
Created: March 2024

*GRAPHICS ATTRIBUTION*
Seat Drawing in intro made by Aviation Volume

*EQUIPMENT INFORMATION*
Cameras used: Canon R6 (Canon 15-35mm F2.6, Canon 100-400mm F5.6-8), iPhone 15 Pro Max, DJI Osmo Pocket, GoPro Hero 8 Black
Additional equipment used: GoPro Suction Cup, Rode VideoMic Pro+, Blue Yeti Podcast Microphone, Joby Bendipod, Aputure AL-MC LED Light, Joby GorillaPod 1K

*CONTACT US*

COPYRIGHT 2024

#ces #chinaeastern #chinaeasternairlines

[jaewonchang]

I think I might have an explanation for the bread being served after the meal service. While bread is a staple in most western countries, it's more of a dessert or snack in east Asia, which is why a lot of bread you find in Asian countries like Korea and Japan are quite sweet compared to a french baguette, for example. So I think the intention of the meal service order was for the bread to be served as a dessert/snack.

[mst]

China eastern has always felt to me like a minimum benchmark for a consistent but unremarkable aviation standard in mainland china. The is video certainly felt this way; the way the airline has improved over the years also feels very consistent with how the rest of the country’s aviation industry has on average changed.

Also, if ever possible I hope Simply Aviation will try one of china southern’s very unique flights between Urumqi and Central Asia, like Tbilisi or Tehran.

[ramairturbine]

Love the economy class focused videos! Keep up the good work.

[hanjiongmiao]

As a Chinese avgeek growing up in Shanghai, it’s great to hear you enjoyed your flight on China Eastern. After all, it is the airline I grew up flying.
About the livery, they do used to have a nicer looking old livery which had already been completely phased out favoring the more “modern looking ” white one.
Few notes about their product, about the Wi-Fi, you are actually suppose to enter a access code purchased online as a economy passenger (or something like that), free access code is only given to businesses and first class. The game section had apparently been disabled for cost cutting reasons. The USB charging port also often don’t work on their 777 so be aware!

[ramatgan]

I recently flew British Airways. In a 6 hour flight time they only served sandwich and a biscuit.
They have declined dramatically.

[WORMGERM]

Butter on a muffin is elite. Take the taste up a notch

[talon-]

Because the butter is chilled, they hand it out early so that there's time to soften before you apply it on the bread ;)

[Karadzicu]

My dad was the first few employees of China Eastern. He works for the company since 1990. Thank you for making this video!

[mehedi]

I flew China Eastern from Singapore to Paris and from Rome to Singapore, with a layover in Shanghai. It was a pleasant experience, and I faced no delays at the Shanghai airport. However, our return flight from Rome was initially pushed back by 50 minutes, reducing our transit time to 110 minutes. Then, our plane was further delayed by 40 minutes, so we arrived at Shanghai airport with only 60 minutes to catch our next flight. The China Eastern staff were incredibly helpful, arranging everything to help us pass through security and catch the flight. Without their assistance, we definitely would have missed it.

[lzr_boy]

The seats on 18:40 might be the Weber 5750 or 5751. Same seats can be found on Korean Air's legacy 777 and A330 cabins, Hong Kong Airlines's A330, among others.

[hhuhu]

I did the exact same journey in october of last year and was also amazed. For the price I paid(450€ round trip). They might not have the fanciest cabin or are. But for a cheap fare they are really good. Funny thing as well the bread rolls on my flight were also served around 20min after they served the main meal. And adding the pork belly is amazing I had it on my flight from Shanghai to Tokyo as well as Shanghai to Frankfurt.

[josephwilliamson]

That's what I like about your channel, you not only fly business or first, you fly economy too, what the majority of people use.

[TheTomatenfritz]

Serving the Butter and the breadrolls separately is absolutely hilarious already. But serving a blueberry muffin with butter must be the most random thing I've seen in a flight review in a while.

[fletchercaesar]

We add butter to rice, in Asia and unsalted butter in small quantities is dessert.

[castlehighschool]

Thank you for the trip report. After researching flights to Japan this year I was astonished how cheap China Eastern offers the flights. 350€ for a return with two suitcases is just insane. Unfortunately many people from Mydealz are very upset about this Airline and say it is one of the worst but after your video I think they are a regular competitor.

[iheggis]

Flew 777 pvg-cdg in April, with china eastern… bread service came 20mins after each meal…. Staff were super friendly, and baggage allowance very generous, would definitely fly again

[mrtodd]

You can put butter on a blueberry muffin.

[bembs]

I flew China Eastern Airlines last month from Jakarta to Shanghai on a A330-200. It was a pretty good flight. We had a slight delay, but they managed to land in Shanghai on time. The crew was kind and helpful (they managed to find my lost left earbuds! 😂) Also, the food was FANTASTIC! One of the best in-flight meals I’ve ever tasted, after Thai Airways and Garuda Indonesia!

The only drawback was the IFE. Yes, the system was pretty dated, and the movie selections were basic. Also, they DIDN’T provide us with headphones! I thought they forgot to provide headphones on our flight to Shanghai, but no, they also didn’t provide headphones on our return flight to Jakarta! 😓 Also, I saw a flight attendant walking back and forth with a camera attached on her chest. Although it didn’t really bother me, but yeah, it was quite odd. 🤔

Overall, it was a pretty good flight. Not the best flight I’ve ever had, but considering its cheap price, heck, I would fly with them again (but this time, PLEASE don’t forget the headphones)!

[TheRealElm]

Nice. I flew on this plane (B777) from Bangkok to Frankfurt via Shanghai.

[dennisrettke]

Looks very decent indeed. Honestly, the leg room and food looked better than the recent Singapore Airlines flights I took earlier this month.