China Eastern Airlines B777300ER business class SHANGHAI–LONDON

BACKGROUND China Eastern Airlines was founded in 1988 and is the secondlargest airline in China, after China Southern Airlines. It has twin hubs, Shanghai Hongqiao and Shanghai Pudong, and operates just under 800 aircraft, including 103 widebodies, of which 20 are Boeing 777-300ERs. The company says it serves more than 1,000 destinations – this includes those served by its partners in the SkyTeam alliance.

CHECK-IN I was connecting, with my bags checked through from Hong Kong to London Heathrow. The previous day I repeatedly tried to check in online, with no success. Check in at the desk in Hong Kong was quick and efficient, though very early (0540).

The transfer procedure at Pudong was a little laborious, with quite a long walk from the landing gate to the transfer area, where my hand baggage was scanned and my passport and boarding pass checked several times. I also had to use a self-service fingerprint scanning machine. When flying in from London four weeks previously, I had to undertake a Covid test when transferring to the Hong Kong flight; this time it was not required. All in all, it took 45 minutes from docking to completing the transfer procedures.

THE LOUNGE There was a three-hour wait at Shanghai for my connecting flight to London, and I had access to the China Eastern/SkyTeam lounge, which is centrally located. It’s on two floors; the lower floor, with food stations serving hot Western and Chinese food, was crowded and noisy. I had a tasty bowl of noodles cooked to order, but cans of beer were lukewarm. Upstairs things were less hectic but the air-conditioning wasn’t working (in contrast to my previous time in here, when the lower salon was hotter than the upper). There was plenty of comfortable seating (including free-ofcharge massage chairs), USB outlets, snacks, hot and cold drinks, and shower rooms, though these were locked with a message on the door to contact reception.

BOARDING It was a ten-minute walk to Gate 21, mainly along travellators. The flight, MU551, was scheduled for departure at 1300; boarding commenced at 1245. With priority boarding I walked straight onto the aircraft.

The staff were warm and welcoming; I was given a warm towel just after taking my seat and offered a drink. I chose orange juice, the other options being water or zero-calorie lemonade.

THE SEAT

My seat was 16A, about halfway down the business class cabin and not too near the galley or toilets. My first impression was one of comfort and spaciousness, with the beige leather seats still looking new.

There are 52 business class seats on China Airlines’ B777-300ERs, in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone configuration. Eight seats are forward of the galley and the remainder aft. Seat width is 20.3 inches with a length of 75 inches when in the fully flat position.

A 15-inch touchscreen swings out from the unit in front, with a handset (stowed in the panel to the side) that can also be used to select programmes or switch on the overhead lamp. This panel also includes the headphone socket, a USB port, an extra

My first impression was one of comfort and spaciousness, with the seats still looking new

reading light and a small shelf, in which were stowed a water bottle, headphones and a simple amenities kit in a fabric case. Another pocket lower down had slippers in a cloth bag. The tray table swings out from the side and is both sturdy and a good size. The armrest pops up with a push of a button, with a magazine rack at floor level in front.

The seat is controlled by buttons, also on the side panel. There were one-touch buttons for take-off/landing, one for the fully flat position and one for a semi-recline. Other buttons controlled the footrest, seat-back and moving the whole ensemble forwards or backwards.

THE FLIGHT We pushed back at 1320 local time, 20 minutes behind schedule, and were airborne at 1336, reaching cruising altitude some 25 minutes later, when I was given another towel and the menu.

This was divided into four, three-month sections. Lobster medallions with Chinese pickles made for an excellent sharp and cleansing starter. Two of the four mains on November’s dinner/lunch menu weren’t available, but I chose pan-fried cod with Parma ham in parsley and cheese sauce with mashed potato and vegetables, which was very good, the cod perfectly cooked. I chose a Chilean Frontera Sauvignon Blanc to go with it, and had hazelnut and chocolate tart for dessert. After dinner, duvets were given to passengers and the lights dimmed. The lie-flat bed was very comfortable and I had no trouble sleeping: the cabin temperature was about right – not too cold, as is so often the case.

Some five hours or so later a light meal was served, and from the menu I chose marinated beef with vegetables, followed by steamed basa fillet with chilli sauce, vegetables and rice. The chilli gave this more of a punch than I expected, but a welcome one. A small dish of fruit followed.

Business class passengers get free wifi, which allowed me to access emails on my phone but not surf the web or use other apps. However, this was an improvement on my London to Shanghai flight where the wifi hadn’t worked at all.

The IFE system worked perfectly, but the choice of Western films was a little limited, with most being from the year before or well before that. The Chinese-language offering was more comprehensive. However, I watched two quirky films, The Man in the Hat, mostly without dialogue and set in France, and the French film Délicieux, both of which were highly enjoyable. TV choices included the usual sports fare and candid camera set-ups.

ARRIVAL Once the cabin lights were back on, I was given another towel as small snacks – biscuits and the like – were served. We landed at 1715 GMT and docked at 1725, five minutes ahead of schedule, at Terminal 4. I was at the luggage carousel by 1740 after a fairly quick passage through immigration. Queues were longer for non-UK and non-EU passport holders.

Up to this point, everything at Heathrow, and indeed the flight, had been fairly smooth. However, after half an hour at the carousel it became obvious one of my bags had been lost. Dozens of suitcases had been taken off the carousels and placed – some seemingly at random – around the hall. The people at the Dnata baggage office were helpful but overworked, and I did not get out of the airport until 1930. My bag was delivered to me the next day.

VERDICT I was very impressed with the business class offering, which was better than I expected. The seat was comfortable and the service friendly and good. Minor quibbles were some of the menu items being unavailable and the film choice being a little limited. The lounge at Shanghai is not up to international standards. It’s unclear whether my bag had failed to transfer at Shanghai or was misplaced at Heathrow. Nick Goodyer

The chilli gave the dish more of a punch than I expected, but a welcome one