If you are typing “is China Eastern safe” into a search bar, you have probably seen two very different things: a regulator’s clean paperwork, and a headline about Flight MU5735. Both are real.
China Eastern Airlines is one of China’s three major state-linked carriers, based in Shanghai. On paper, it’s as safe as any major international airline. It is also the carrier behind one of the most closely watched unsolved air disasters of the past decade. Both facts belong in the same answer.
The short answer
China Eastern passes every standard safety check regulators use, and no Chinese airline is banned or restricted in Europe.
Set against that: China Eastern’s most recent fatal accident, MU5735 on 21 March 2022, killed all 132 people on board, and more than four years later no official cause has ever been published. That gap is the thing worth understanding before you fly.
Four different bodies check up on airline safety, and China Eastern and its regulator pass all four.
- Industry safety audit (IOSA): a standard operational check almost every major airline holds as a condition of membership in the global airline association. China Eastern is registered through 29 January 2027 — but so are Air China, China Southern, Thai Airways, Korean Air, Asiana, and Cathay Pacific. It’s a baseline every serious airline clears, not a distinguishing mark.
- US rating (FAA): this grades a country’s regulator, not the airline itself. China holds the top rating, “Category 1,” meaning the US considers China’s aviation authority capable of proper oversight. Only a small handful of countries — Bangladesh, Russia, Venezuela, and a few Caribbean states — fail to reach it.
- UN audit (ICAO): measures how well a country enforces international safety rules. China scored 89.90%, well above the 70.42% global average. Its weakest area, accident investigation, still beat the global average.
- EU banned-airline list: Europe restricts or bans 154 airlines worldwide. None are Chinese.
How China Eastern’s fleet age compares
Older planes aren’t necessarily less safe as fleet age isn’t part of any safety audit, and it only loosely reflects maintenance quality.
Still, here’s how China Eastern stacks up against nearby carriers.
China Eastern accident record
China Eastern’s record before 2022 was, by most measures, a good one. Its previous fatal accident was Flight MU5210 in 2004 — 18 years without a fatal accident before MU5735.
MU5210, a small regional jet, had sat overnight in cold weather and reportedly wasn’t de-iced before takeoff. It stalled shortly after leaving the ground. Reports put the death toll at 54, including at least one person on the ground (some accounts say 55 — the exact figure was never settled). Twelve airline employees were later punished over the accident.
China’s aviation safety record around this time was genuinely strong: regulators said Chinese airlines had flown over 100 million consecutive hours without a fatal accident before that streak ended with MU5735.
China Eastern grounded and then returned its 737-800 fleet to service after the crash. It has had no further fatal accidents since, a run of roughly four years and four months as of August 2026, shorter than Air China’s or Thai Airways’ current safety streaks, but still substantial.
Why AirlineRatings shows 5 out of 7 stars
The independent site AirlineRatings.com gives China Eastern 5 out of 7 stars. Its scoring method automatically deducts points for any fatal accident within the past 10 years — so this score is largely a restatement of MU5735 rather than new information. It’s a private commercial rating, separate from the official regulatory checks above.
The honest verdict
China Eastern passes every standard safety check international regulators use. On paper, it looks like any other major airline.
But it also carries something its closest peers don’t: an unsolved fatal crash from the last five years, with credible but unconfirmed reporting pointing to deliberate cockpit action. Both things are true at once, and neither cancels out the other.
Related reading
If you’re researching airline safety more broadly, these cover adjacent ground:
- Is China Southern a Good Alternative Airline During the Gulf Crisis?
- China’s 40-Day Airspace Closure: Will It Affect Your Travel Plans?
- Is Air China Safe?
- Is Thai Airways Safe?
- Is Jeju Air Safe?
- Is Turkish Airlines Safe?
- Safest Airlines in the US
- Safest Airlines in the UK
If you are booking a flight and want to compare options into China more broadly, Wego’s flights to China search lets you weigh China Eastern against other carriers serving the same routes.
Sources
- CAAC: Preliminary Findings Statement on Flight MU5735, 20 April 2022
- Forbes: Coverage of the Wall Street Journal’s Report on the MU5735 Flight Recorder Data, 17 May 2022
- CNN: NTSB FOIA Release on the China Eastern MU5735 Investigation, 4 May 2026
- IATA Connect: IOSA Registry, read 3 August 2026
- ICAO: USOAP CMA Interactive Viewer (iSTARS data), read 3 August 2026
- FAA: IASA Program Country List, Revision R119, 18 April 2025
- European Commission: EU Air Safety List, revision 9 June 2026
- AirlineRatings.com: China Eastern Safety Rating, read 3 August 2026
- Planespotters.net: China Eastern Airlines Fleet Data, read 3 August 2026
- China Daily: Report on the Baotou Crash, Flight MU5210, November 2004
- South China Morning Post: 12 Airline Officials Punished Over MU5210 Crash
- Global Times: China’s Civil Aviation Safety Record Before MU5735, March 2022
Disclaimer
This article reflects publicly available regulatory and press records as of August 2026. The investigation into Flight MU5735 remains formally open, no cause has been published by any Chinese authority, and the reported US assessment discussed above has not been confirmed by the CAAC. Wego strives to ensure all information presented is accurate at the time of publication. Aviation safety records, regulatory ratings and investigation statuses can change. We recommend checking official CAAC, ICAO, FAA and IATA sources directly before making decisions based on this information. Wego does not accept liability for inaccuracies or changes that may occur after publication.
Featured image: “B-2413 | China Eastern Airlines | Airbus A320-214 | PEK” by byeangel, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
