Chinese internal airlines

How good or bad are the Chinese internal airlines? Delays??

If given a choice is there any particularly good or bad airline to fly with or not?

Chinese internal airlines

Dragon Air seems to have very modern aircraft and good food. I believe it has received recent awards for their domestic services in the region.

China Eastern was very good too. Maybe a little more worn in terms of the interior of the aircraft. Food not as good as China Eastern.

No delays experienced with either.

Chinese internal airlines

Sorry, I meant China Eastern%26#39;s food was not as glam as Dragon Air%26#39;s

Lockie, it is fairly important to mention where you intend to travel, to and from.

China is a big place with lots of regional airlines.

It you want to fly between two large cities there will be as many as 8 different carriers.

Airline tickets bought within China are alot cheaper, I buy them for my Australian guests, saving them usually half.

If you have local knowledge, you can choose something cheap, but at a time when it should not be delayed.Early morning or last flight in the evening.

I don%26#39;t think DragonAir flies domestically in mainland China.

Hainan Airlines and Shanghai Airlines would be at the top of my list. Air China and China Southern are ok. Sichuan Airlines does ok too especially for being a smaller airline. China Eastern isn%26#39;t really that good. Avoid Shenzhen Airlines at all costs.

About how much would it cost to fly roundtrip to Lijang from Shanghai or Beijing? On elong, it looks like it would be about $500 US. We will be traveling in June.

Also, what about Tokyo? How much would it cost to fly round trip from Tokyo to Beijing?

Thanks!

Flying directly from Shanghai to Lijiang would be quite expensive, probably about 400+ USD each for a round-trip. You might also want to explore the possibilities of transiting at Kunming instead.

I intend to use eLong for our flights and hotels in China - prices look good and I can book everything before leaving home and so won%26#39;t have to make myself understood in a very foreign country of whose language I can say only %26#39;ni hao%26#39;.

What are other TA%26#39;s experiences of eLong?

And thanks Ellyse on the rundown of the Chinese internal airlines. Much appreciated.

Elyse,

It wounds like you are suggesting Kumming as an alternative to Lijang. Let me research a little. Thanks for the suggestion!

Oh no, I wasn%26#39;t suggesting skipping Lijiang for Kunming. I meant that you might want to fly Shanghai -- Kunming and then Kunming -- Lijiang, it might be cheaper that way. Kunming is also quite a nice place to explore for a couple of days, if you can spare the time.