A Qantas’ queen of the sky (B747) was parked literally next to the window.

I obviously picked one of the seats near the window where I could enjoy planes went to and fro. There was a massive window on one side giving a great view of the tarmac. The use of timber in some places made this lounge appeared warm and inviting.

The size of the lounge was not that big, but it was nicely decorated. The lounge was empty when I came in, which was wonderful, so I could wait for boarding in peace and quiet. There was a green wall made from plants in the lounge entrance. The lounge staff welcomed me warmly, even though he was a bit surprised to see me there since I had other lounges that I could use. I needed to use my lounge quota in my credit card anyway. Since I have tried both, I opted to use the American Express lounge instead. In the Sydney International Airport, I was directed to use the Air New Zealand lounge, although I also had the option to choose the Singapore Airlines’ Krisflyer lounge. As a comparison, Garuda Indonesia had 143 planes and carried about 35 million passengers annually. As of 2018, Air China (main brand only, excluding subsidiaries) had 407 planes and carried more than 100 million passengers per year, making this Star Alliance member the third largest airline in Asia in terms of passengers carried. Air China is the flag carrier of the People’s Republic of China. Air China CA174 B777-300ER left Sydney at 21:00 and was scheduled to land in Beijing around 05:00 with total flight time about 11 hours and 20 minutes.Īir China named their first class Forbidden Pavilion, which, I assume, was inspired by the Forbidden City in Beijing. Now I had the opportunity to fly with Air China from Sydney, Australia, to Beijing, China.

Overall experience was closer to premium.

Comfortable seat when converted into a bed.

Lounge (American Express Lounge in Sydney): 4/5

Air china 777 300 first class review