Chinese flag carrier Air China has extended its advanced seat selection service to its international flights in the Asia-Pacific region.
This service is only available for non-stop flights operated by Air China, and it’s not applicable to any codeshare flights. Economy class passengers travelling on the Chinese carrier’s Asia-Pacific routes can pay a fee to secure a seat with more legroom, such as in the first row and exit row seats in the economy class cabin, from the moment they purchase the ticket until three hours before their flight departure time.
Below is a table showing the eligible routes and the prices:
| Price | Routes between | |
| RMB100 (US$15) | Beijing | Seoul Gimpo, Busan, Jeju, Daegu, Pyongyang |
| Yanji, Wenzhou, Tianjin, | Seoul | |
| Shanghai | Fukuoka, Taipei | |
| Hangzhou | Seoul, Jeju, Taipei | |
| Wenzhou | Taipei | |
| Wuhan | Macau | |
| RMB200 (US$29) | Beijing | Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Hakodate, Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Ho Chi Minh City, Yangon, Siem Reap, Manila, Ulaanbaatar, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei |
| Shanghai | Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sendai, Bangkok | |
| Hangzhou | Osaka, Ibaraki, Bangkok | |
| Tianjin | Hong Kong, Taipei Songshan, Okinawa, Bangkok | |
| Chengdu | Singapore, Kathmandu, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Taipei, Hong Kong | |
| Chongqing | Seoul, Nha Trang, Taipei, Hong Kong | |
| Dalian | Tokyo, Hiroshima, Hong Kong | |
| Ordos | Hong Kong | |
| Kunming | Yangon | |
| Wuhan | Chiang Mai | |
| RMB300 (US$44) | Beijing | Singapore, Dubai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Astana, Jakarta |
| Chongqing | Dubai | |
| Chengdu | Colombo | |
However, it’s worth noting that flights departing from Dubai, Daegu, Pyongyang and Ulaanbaatar don’t offer advanced seat selection at the moment.
Passengers can purchase these seats starting from 6pm (GMT+8) today. Travellers can purchase the service on Air China’s official website, mobile app, at its brick-and-mortar ticket selling centres, or via Air China’s call centre (+86 10 95583) or its frequent flyer programme Phoenix Miles members’ service hotline (+86 4006-100-666). Platinum and Lifetime Platinum members of Phoenix Miles can choose their preferred seats for free.
The paid advanced seat selection service is already available on other international routes operated by the Beijing-based carrier. In addition to the first row seats and exit row seats, for which prices start from RMB600 (US$87), economy class passengers travelling on these eligible routes (please refer to the table below) can also pay to select seats between the second and 10th rows for RMB100 (US$15), as well as aisle or window seats in the middle of the economy class cabin (rows 11-20) for RMB50 (US$7).
| Routes between | |
| Beijing | Moscow, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Paris, London, Geneva, Zurich, Milan, Rome, Vienna, Barcelona, Madrid, Munich, Athens, Warsaw, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Newark, Hawaii, Vancouver, Montreal, Havana, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Auckland, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg |
| Shanghai | Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Milan, Sydney, Melbourne, San Jose, Barcelona |
| Chengdu | Frankfurt, Paris, Sydney |
| Shenzhen | Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Melbourne |
Many airlines have introduced similar economy seat selection services for a fee, including Thai Airways, Etihad and Cathay Pacific.
The Chinese carrier has recently confirmed an order for 20 A350-900 aircraft and will add a new Beijing-Nice service from August 2. Business Traveller Asia-Pacific reviewed its A321 Beijing-Hong Kong economy class service in March this year.
