Travellers on Air China’s Beijing Capital-Newark Liberty Airport service will have to wait a little longer before they can see the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with the airline now looking as though it will deploy the aircraft on the route next year.
The airline had originally planned to begin flying the aircraft to Newark from December 2 this year, however its schedule has since been changed such that the aircraft will now fly the route from March 25, 2018. Air China’s Boeing 777-300ER, which currently flies the route, will continue to do so until next March.
This will come as something of a mixed bag for travellers, notably with the gaining of the Dreamliner’s premium economy class at the cost of the B777’s first class. Neither the Dreamliner’s nor the B777’s business classes offer direct aisle access for all passengers (seats are laid out 2-2-2), making the latter’s eight first class seats the only ones that provide it. And while both aircraft’s business class offerings are lie-flat, the Dreamliner has 12 fewer seats in the cabin.
Travellers in Air China’s premium economy, meanwhile, will get additional legroom, though the overall layout of the cabin won’t differ from either the Dreamliner’s or the B777’s economy class cabins, with all three classes being laid out with nine seats per row (3-3-3).
Many airlines, including Cathay Pacific, Eva Air and British Airways have been switching to a more economical yet less spacious ten-across seating configuration in their B777 economy cabins.
It’s also worth noting that Air China’s Newark service is among the select international routes on which the airline recently has begun offering meal pre-ordering.
Meanwhile passengers transiting in Beijing from the Americas onto other Air China domestic flights can also now fully check their bags through customs and quarantine as part of the airline’s new Fully Entrusted-No Baggage Claim service. The service permits the airline to open passengers’ checked baggage on their behalf when transiting in Beijing, enabling travellers to clear immigration without requiring to collect their checked baggage.
