Flight report: Air China in business class
Flight number: CA 932
Equipment: B777
Origin: FRA (20:00)
Destination: PEK (11:20)
Flown: Apr 2025
Cabin occupancy: 80%
Air China’s 777 Business Class delivers an OK experience with comfortable flat beds, reliable on-time performance, and tasty food—even if the seats show their age. While not the most modern cabin, the consistent service and good value make it a practical choice for long-haul flights.
Air China codeshare experience (FRA-PEK) with a Lufthansa ticket highlights some quirks of airline partnerships! While the flight itself was comfortable—thanks to the decent Business Class flat beds, good food, and punctuality—the booking process was needlessly cumbersome. Not being able to manage your itinerary or select seats online (and relying on a phone call to secure them) feels outdated, especially for a major route. Thankfully, our seats stuck—but it’s a reminder that even in the age of seamless digital travel, some quirks still demand old-school patience.
After our stay at the Lufthansa Business lounge, we headed to the boarding gate. Although the flight monitors in the Lufthansa lounge does not show whether the flight is boarding or not – the flight was already boarding when we got there. Business and First had a completely different line for boarding and we were immediately on our way to the plane.
Business Class features semi-enclosed “shell” seats arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration. While not the latest in privacy-focused designs, the seats recline into a fully flat bed, making them practical for sleeping on the long haul to Beijing. Just don’t expect cutting-edge suites—it’s more about function than luxury. What is missing is some simple storage area for passengers to store a e-reader or book or a phone.
The remote is in the side rest, while the headphone jack is behind your head area 🙂
Decent noise cancelling headset was offered…
There was a L’Occitane amenity kit on each seat, which is a simple pouch and nothing to brag about. I am sure it is a single use pouch and I dont think it will be re-used again as the functionality is limited.
There were slippers for each passenger. Do you see the leg resting area – it is extremely small. Once the bed is made, your legs are really crammed in there with no place to move at all.
Flight safety video with a Giant Panda guiding us through the dos and donts. Quite nicely done actually!
Once we were seated we were offered welcome drinks and a warm towel for freshening up
20 minutes after take-off the service began with warm nuts and drinks!
The menu for the flight is hereunder. The Air China Business Class meal service keeps things streamlined—all passengers receive the same canapé, appetizer, and salad without à la carte choices. For the main course, I opted for the “fish-flavored prawns” with rice, which was surprisingly tasty and well-prepared. While the lack of starter options feels a bit rigid, the quality (and generous pour of drinks) made up for it. It seems Air China keeps a consistent menu for both FRA-PEK and PEK-FRA routes, but adjusts the meal service timing based on departure. While the dishes themselves don’t change, the structure adapts to flight times.
FRA to PEK (evening flight): A full dinner service followed by a light breakfast before landing—ideal for maximizing sleep.
PEK to FRA (daytime flight): A lunch service followed by a light meal option later in the flight, keeping things simple but satisfying.
Canapes – the presentation was hasty and it seemed a forced course. They should just skip this and start with appetizers.
Shrimp appetizer was lovely
I loved the main course. The prawns were perfectly cooked in a tasty sauce…
Ice cream to go along as dessert, or you could also chose fruits
After the meal service I quickly made my bed and was ready to sleep. The offered pillow and blankets are of a very good quality… Unlike, Turkish or Qatar there is no bed mattress service on Air China.
There is a snack and drink section between the first and business cabin. When I woke up in the night, I did not see any snack option, but just drink option. Drink options are water, juices and soft drinks.
I skipped the breakfast in the morning as I was sleepy. However, once I woke up the FA promptly brought me some fruits and juice. That was quite nice of her.
There is a wifi on the plane, but I dont think you can connect with a foreign passport. It asks for an ID number, which I assume is a Chinese ID number. Anyways, I was unable to access wifi, but you can watch movies and listen to music streamed to your device directly. However, the movie and entertainment options on the flight are very limited and I did not see any latest blockbusters and also the choices are limited… Not a bad thing for a night flight though as I could catchup on my sleep and woke up fresh in Beijing!
Overall, it is a decent middle of the road, business class experience. Keep your hopes to a medium, and you might be positively surprised.