China Eastern Airlines

China Eastern is one of China's big-three carriers, alongside Air China and China Southern, and it runs its operation out of Shanghai, splitting flying between Pudong for the long-haul network and Hongqiao for the domestic shuttle traffic. A SkyTeam member, it carries an enormous domestic schedule across the mainland and pushes long-haul from Shanghai across the Pacific to North America, west to Europe, and around the rest of Asia.

Because the airline flies such a broad fleet on such a broad network, the cabin you actually get is decided by the aircraft rostered for your flight rather than by the route name. A short domestic hop and a transpacific sector can both sit under the same flight number on different days, so the published seat map for your specific aircraft is the reliable way to see what is on board.

On the single-aisle side China Eastern flies a large Airbus group — the A319, A320, A320neo, A321 and A321neo — alongside the Boeing narrowbodies, the 737-700, 737-800 and 737 MAX 8. These are the workhorses of the domestic and regional schedule. The widebody long-haul group spans the A330-200 and A330-300, the A350-900, the 777-300ER and the 787-9.

The narrowbody Business is a genuine two-by-two recliner cabin rather than a blocked middle seat, so you get a real premium seat on the shorter sectors. The modern widebodies step up further: the A350, the 787 and the three-class A330-300 carry a full flat-bed Business in a one-two-one layout with direct aisle access for every seat, the 777-300ER adds a small First cabin ahead of Business, and several of the widebodies also fit a dedicated Premium Economy. Same-type aircraft can differ in how large the Business cabin is and how densely Economy is packed, which is worth keeping in mind when you book.

On the narrowbodies, Business is a short-haul recliner: more space, priority boarding and a better meal, but a seat you sit in for a couple of hours rather than a bed. On the widebodies with a one-two-one Business cabin it is a proper long-haul flat-bed with direct aisle access and a personal screen, which is the product to aim for on the transpacific and European routes. Where a Premium Economy is fitted it is a genuine middle cabin, with more room and a better service than Economy without the price of Business.

Economy across the fleet is a clean, modern cabin. It runs a little tighter on the narrowbodies, as you would expect on a single-aisle jet, and more comfortably on the widebodies, where seat-back entertainment and a wider cabin make the long sectors easier. As ever, the exact fit depends on the aircraft, so the published layout is the quickest way to confirm what your flight carries.

On the widebody flat-bed cabins the Business seats are broadly equal, so position and privacy decide: seats nearer the front board and clear first, those toward the rear sit further from galley traffic, and solo travellers tend to favour the more private window-aligned seats in the staggered one-two-one cabins. Premium Economy, where it is fitted, is worth considering on the longer sectors for the extra room over Economy.

In Economy, the bulkhead rows behind a cabin divider give extra room but lose under-seat stowage, and a window or aisle seat avoids the middle of a wide centre block. The forward rows board and clear faster than the rear rows by the galleys and lavatories. One quirk worth knowing: China Eastern skips a few unlucky row numbers, which is cultural numbering rather than a missing seat, so a gap in the row count is not a fault. And because the same aircraft type turns up in more than one density, the published seat map for your flight is worth checking before you settle on a row.