Review of Air China flight from Rome to Beijing in Economy

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone
The 24th July my parents celebrated 20 years of marriage and they decided to make a family trip for this special occasion
About 2 months before leaving we started to evaluate all the possibilites and in a week we made a sort of round-the-world journey: USA, Caribbean, Fjords' cruise and so on…
After all this we finally decide the destination: CHINA
We booked an organized group tour with one of the best Italian tour operator with departure date 12nd August.
The tour comprised 4 cities: Beijing, Xi'An, Guilin and Shanghai for a total of 12 days
Personally I was very happy because of the many different airlines and planes we would have tried. And obviously also because I've never been to China and it had always fascinated me.
Here is the itinerary:

12nd August Roma Fiumicino - Beijing Capital with Air China Boeing 787-9 (YOU ARE HERE)
16th August Beijing Capital - Xi'An with China Eastern Airlines Airbus A321
18th August Xi'An - Guilin with OKAirways Boeing 737-900ER
20th August Guilin - Shanghai Pudong with Suparna Airlines Boeing 737-800
22nd August Shanghai Hongqiao - Beijing Capital with Air China Boeing 747-400
22nd August Beijing Capital - Roma Fiumicino with Air China Boeing 787-9

AT THE AIRPORT

We left home around 5.30PM because we had to meet the rest of the group at 6PM. Usualy it takes about half a hour to reach the airport from home. While on the motorway my father and I noticed airplanes landing over Rome and this was strange because usually landing planes don't fly over the city. Checking on FlightRadar I understood that only RWY 7/25 was in use. Usually it's used for take-offs only.
Since the usual parking we use was full we book Aeroporti di Roma's parking, about 400m far from the terminals.

FIDS heading to Terminal 3, showing our flight delayed from 20.55 to 21.25
Maybe this was due the limited runway's operations
We will later discover that a fire broke out near the border of the airport and therefore runways 16R/34L and 16L/34R were closed

Heading straight to Terminal 3, which hosts all international flights at FCO except Alitalia

Terminal 1, AZ base

Terminal 3 has been improved so much and the new facade contributes to spread a lot of natural light

CA's check-in desks…most of the passengers seemed to be Chinese

My boarding pass and passport

Before heading to the security checkpoint I went out to smoke a cigarette and to see the new facade from outside.
The design is based on the original one, being this part of the Terminal 3 the first to be built in 1961 when the airport was opened

Old-style FIDS showing our flight to have 30' delay

Our way to the security checkpoint

Despite of the crowd there was no queue for the checkpoint and we were airside in no time

Time to turn left to Gate Area E, used for all non-Schenghen flights

Even the passport control made in no time thanks to eGates

After the passport control there's the entrance to the "Isle of Wonders", the new Boarding Area E, opened in December 2016. It contains a lot of luxury shops and high-level restaurants.
The building is made of 3 floors: remote gates E1-8 on the lower floor, shops on the main floor and Food court on the upper floor
All non-EU gates are located here

Obliged passage through the duty free

The building is really impressive and makes FCO worthy to be at the same level of other european airports
The main floor is like a big mall with the most famous Italian luxury brands

We went upstairs to the Food Court to eat something. The F&B choice is very wide and based on Italian food excellences.
Unfortunately this big "mall" lacks of good spotting places except a big window that looks towards the Pier
Qatar Airways, Aer Lingus and Alitalia A320s

Turkish A320 departing to IST

Meanwhile our plane from PEK landed on RWY 7/25 with one hour delay
It has been the first time for me to see a plane landing on this runway

Immediately after our gate was reported to be E22, at the far end of the Pier

This structure is impressive and well done, no doubts, but it lacks of good spotting points XD
Alitalia Boeing 777

Our gate area was already full of people
The plane seemed to be full

Time to go…

China Eastern A330 to PVG

And our bird for tonight flight…Air China Boeing 787-9
B-7898, delivered in September 2016 (0,9 years old) is the 6th Air China's Dream)Liner

THE FLIGHT

Boarding a Dream)Liner for the second time

I took my seat 39L, a window seat
The seat was quite comfortable but a bit tight for me in pitch (I am 182 cm tall)
The IFE screen was fixed, a bit boring if the person in front moves the seat

The view from my seat with Alitalia 777 and Satellite Terminal

The cabin immediately after boarding ended

While ushback started the safety video was shown

Mood lighting was lowered for TO

Korean Air Boeing 747-8 while taxiing to the runway

We took-off 65 minutes after the scheduled time

The airshow featured the distances from origin, destination and major cities

After the TO the mood lighting changed from blue to purple for the start of meal service
The dinner was delayed due to a turbolence that lasted about half a hour
At the end of the turbolence the crew distributed something to drink before serving the dinner

Cucumber salad with shrimps and olive
Chicken with rice or Duck with mashed potatoes and beet
Bread
Fruit salad

I choose Duck, which was quite tasty

After dinner lights were lowered to let passengers sleep

Since there was nothing interesting among movies I tried to have a nap
Outside the view was quite boring

I woke up here

The only view outside was a sea of clouds

I love 787 raked wingtip with Air China logo

A lady of my group had some pressure problems and all the crew helped here
Lights went on and doctor was called among the passengers
Fortunately it was nothing serious and the journey continued without any other issue

One hour and half before landing breakfast was served

Omelette with tomato sauce and meatballs
Eggplant salad
Croissant
Tiramisu

Unknown plane going somewhere

As soon as I was a bit tired and had legs pain I took a walk
The middle cabin of economy, located between Door 2 and 3

One hour before landing we started to see mainland under us

Approaching PEK the only view was a grey blanket of smog and humidity covering the city

While landing on Runway 36L we saw the impressive Terminal 3, built in 2008 for the Olympics and designed by Norman Foster to resemble a dragon

Terminal 1 and 2

WELCOME TO BEIJING…Landing was a bit bumby and braking a bit hard

Than it started one of the longest taxi I have ever experienced…20 minutes and 9,7 km (calculated with Google Earth)

Air Mauritius A340

Air China 777

Amazing Terminal 3

Plane taking off from runway 18L/36R

GrandStar Cargo 747-400F

China Eastern Airlines A321 taking off

Terminal 2 apron beyond the runway

China Southern A380 parked at Terminal 2

XiamenAir 787

Sichuan Airlines A330

Approaching Terminal 3 we entered Air China's land
737, A321 and 787

Many tails

A321

A330

SAS A340 and Air Canada 777

Our stand was next to an Air China A330

Desembarking I asked the flight report to the Purser and also if it was possible to visit the cockpit but he told me that the Captain was busy
However the flight report was well-filled

ARRIVAL IN BEIJING

I took a lot of photos from the glass jetway since I wasn't able to take some in Rome

Going to the immigration and baggage claim

The plane from the arrivals' mezzanine

Terminal 3 is really impressive and full of light

The departure lounge seen from the passport control hall

There was a little queue for passport control and in about 10 minutes we made all the formalities

Since we where in a satellite terminal called T3E we had to take an APM to reach baggage claim area

Terminal 3C, which hosts domestic flights and landside access

The baggage carousel was number 38, just in front of the exit from the APM
Baggages were already there

After taking our baggages we went through Customs and Exit where our guide was already waiting for us
The meeters and greeters hall was very crowded

Exiting the airport to take the shuttle bus we had a little shock for the temperature and the humidity
The airport is very big and it looks like a cathedral

Ground Transportation Center

Welcome to Beijing 欢迎来到北京

The road to the hotel, located near CCTV Headquarters, was a bit busy but in less than one hour we reached our destionation, ready to visit this amazing city
TO BE CONTINUED…