Review: China Airlines Sydney-Auckland

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There are many airlines flying between Australia and New Zealand. Qantas, Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand, Emirates, Jetstar, LAN, Air Asia, Philippine Airlines and China Airlines all offer flights across the Tasman. (And from September, Singapore Airlines will join the list.)

I've flown most of these airlines, but until recently I'd never tried out China Airlines. So, as the schedule and pricing worked well for me on my most recent trip to New Zealand (and I didn't need any QF status credits), I decided to try them out.

The Taiwan-based airline operates a number of Tran-Tasman tag flights, including Sydney-Auckland, Brisbane-Auckland and Melbourne-Christchurch.

My flight was CI51, which departs Sydney at 12.40pm and arrives in Auckland at 5.40pm. The flight was operated by an Airbus A330-300 that originated in Taipei. Some passengers were continuing from Taipei, but there were many passengers joining the flight in Sydney.

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Check-in & Boarding

There was a moderate queue at the check-in counters, but enough staff members to ensure the line progressed fairly quickly. I waited about 15 minutes in total, and otherwise had no problems checking in.

As I don't have any status with SkyTeam and was flying economy, I didn't have lounge access in Sydney. But eligible passengers would have had access to the SkyTeam lounge near gate 24 prior to the flight.

Boarding was a bit of a zoo, with some passengers choosing not to wait in line or for their zone to be called. But from what I could tell, the priority boarding lane did seem to be policed properly.

On board: The hard product

The Airbus A330 seemed fairly new, and the plane was clean. Economy class seats are in the usual 2-4-2 configuration.

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The economy class cabin

Because I booked an "Economy Super Saver" ticket, I wasn't able to select a seat at all (not even for a fee!) until online check-in opened 24 hours before departure. By the time it did, the best seat I could get was an aisle seat in row 15.

I found that the legroom was quite adequate for economy. I think it is probably a little better than most of the other airlines flying Trans-Tasman, with the exception of Emirates. There was also a small pillow on every seat.

The flight was around 90% full in economy, but almost empty in business class! Business is in a 2-2-2 configuration and I must admit, the hard product did look pretty good when I walked through the cabin. The seats looked very comfortable – certainly better than the hard product on the Qantas & Virgin 737s! Though I believe that the seats are only angle-flat and not completely lie-flat. I can't comment on the business class soft product.

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Business class seats

Every seat was equipped with an in-flight entertainment system. I thought the IFE was pretty good. There was a reasonably comprehensive range of movies and TV shows (all with Chinese subtitles), and the touch screen was fairly responsive. However, the flight map function wasn't working properly.

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IFE

On board: The soft product

The soft product met expectations. There were a few potential areas for improvement, but overall I was happy with the on-board service.

The Taiwanese cabin crew were friendly and professional, and the English announcements were understandable.

There was only one choice of hot meal. The chicken rice that was offered was quite tasty, although the portion size was a little on the small side and I would have liked to see another meal option available.

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The single hot meal choice: Chicken rice with fruit salad and a chocolate biscuit

Soft drinks, juice and water were available with lunch. There was also a small selection of alcoholic beverages, including Heineken beer, and one type of both white and red wine. Most of the drinks came out of cans, but were poured from the can into a small cup, meaning each passenger received only half a drink.

We hit some substantial turbulence mid-way through the flight, so no tea or coffee was served. The cabin manager twice apologised for this over the PA.

Having departed punctually, we arrived in Auckland a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Final thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised by China Airlines. They provided a reasonable quality of service, and I didn't experience any problems. Although I still prefer Qantas and Emirates, I would consider flying them again if the price and schedule suited.

I actually think I found them slightly better than Jetstar, Air Asia, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand (if on an A320). All of these airlines offer a quasi low-cost-carrier service, with meals, entertainment and baggage all costing extra. China Airlines offers a full service product on a wide-body aircraft, and often at a lower price.

China Airlines has some very competitive trans-Tasman fares in both economy and business class. Economy fares are often around the $200 mark, and I've seen business class for as low as $445 one-way.
 
Interesting TR Matt, thanks for sharing.

How frequent do they fly across the ditch?
 
Interesting TR Matt, thanks for sharing.

How frequent do they fly across the ditch?

They do SYD-AKL 4x weekly and BNE-AKL is 3x weekly. MEL-CHC was 3x weekly, although that route may have been seasonal. Not sure if it's still running.
 
Did the BNE-AKL option with them 5 years ago and was ok, but ever since when I have looked, has been no cheaper than EK or sold out so haven't bothered. Not to mention their timings of arriving at 6pm instead of 2pm for EK into AKL has CI on the back foot for me, as when arriving and spending 30-60mins through AKL, I have a 2-3 hour shuttle ahead of me to TRG until finally on my door in TRG, EK means that is 5-6pm, time to get to supermarket for weeks needs and normal roll into nightly to bed routine.
 
Thanks for the report Matt. Personally, I'll be making use of the new SQ service to Canberra, but this is another option worth considering.
 
Business is in a 2-2-2 configuration and I must admit, the hard product did look pretty good when I walked through the cabin. The seats looked very comfortable – certainly better than the hard product on the Qantas & Virgin 737s! Though I believe that the seats are only angle-flat and not completely lie-flat.

Unfortunately not even angle lie-flat :( The seats are a generous recliner, sort of a 'z' position - as you can see from this Flight Centre promo: China Airlines | Great Deals on Flights & Airfares | Flight Centre

Fine for a short trans-tasman - but overnight to/from TPE the main advantage is that the flight is non-stop - not that you're going to get a good night's sleep. CI's 77Ws are full flat however.
 
Unfortunately not even angle lie-flat :( The seats are a generous recliner, sort of a 'z' position - as you can see from this Flight Centre promo: China Airlines | Great Deals on Flights & Airfares | Flight Centre

Fine for a short trans-tasman - but overnight to/from TPE the main advantage is that the flight is non-stop - not that you're going to get a good night's sleep. CI's 77Ws are full flat however.

Based on that photo, the hard product looks not dissimilar to Air Asia's "Premium Flatbed" - although I presume the service on CI would be much better.
 
Unfortunately not even angle lie-flat :( The seats are a generous recliner, sort of a 'z' position - as you can see from this Flight Centre promo: China Airlines | Great Deals on Flights & Airfares | Flight Centre

Fine for a short trans-tasman - but overnight to/from TPE the main advantage is that the flight is non-stop - not that you're going to get a good night's sleep. CI's 77Ws are full flat however.

Maybe a little similar - but the China Airlines footrest basically drops away - making it redundant. Your legs are unsupported from the knees down.

Here's an even worse picture: Executive travel: China Airlines business class is more affordable | The National


To my eyes, there are two different products in those different links and neither of them are the one as pictured by OP. The ones in question on this flight seem to be the same style seat that Singapore Airlines uses for their regional business class (also used by Fiji A330 and old Virgin Australia coast-coast A330).
 
To my eyes, there are two different products in those different links and neither of them are the one as pictured by OP. The ones in question on this flight seem to be the same style seat that Singapore Airlines uses for their regional business class (also used by Fiji A330 and old Virgin Australia coast-coast A330).

Good point. However here's another report, this time with the same seats posted by the OP, still showing the recline is fairly much the same as the other pictures posted. It is not angled lie-flat, rather recliner with 'z' position: China Airlines Sydney to Auckland Business Class – Airbus A330-300 – FreakyFlier (third picture from the end of the report, leg-rest still drops away)

Friends flew the overnight from TPE to MEL in December and noted the lack of flat bed for the flight.
 
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Good point. However here's another report, this time with the same seats posted by the OP, still showing the recline is fairly much the same as the other pictures posted. It is not angled lie-flat, rather recliner with 'z' position: China Airlines Sydney to Auckland Business Class – Airbus A330-300 – FreakyFlier (third picture from the end of the report, leg-rest still drops away)

Friends flew the overnight from TPE to MEL in December and noted the lack of flat bed for the flight.

Yep it's definitely not fully flat. Flown it on SQ a few times but longest trip was only ~5.5hrs. More than adequate for a quick hop to NZ but for ~9hrs? TPE to MEL you would notice its limitations for sleeping. However the leg dropping away part wasn't so obvious in person as the picture makes it out to be.
 
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