China Eastern

IATA MU ICAO CES China (People's Republic of) · SkyTeam · www.ceair.com (opens in a new tab)

Powered chairs need the airline’s prior approval · carried free · 48 h notice.

Advance notice: 48hours before departure
Powered wheelchair: Conditional
Lithium, battery installed: Not published
Cost to carry: Free

Who to contact

Transcribed from the airline’s own pages, exactly as it labels them.

Phone

95530

China — Customer Service Hotline 95530

Applications for wheelchair services are confirmed by callback between 09:00 and 19:00 daily
Phone

+86 21 20695530

International — China Eastern customer service hotline, shared with subsidiary Shanghai Airlines
Phone

400-60-95530

Baggage service hotline — wheelchair/scooter damage claims after leaving the airport (China–US routes)

Claim within 7 days of the wheelchair being returned

China Eastern publishes no accessibility email address and no dedicated disability phone line — requests go through ticket offices, 95530 (or +86 21 20695530 from abroad) and the website/app. A downloadable sample 《特殊旅客乘机申请书》 / Application Form for Special Assistance Passengers is linked at the foot of the wheelchair page and must be brought to check-in in two printed copies. On China–US routes a Complaints Resolution Official (CRO) is available at the destination airport for wheelchair damage.

Read it from the source

Powered wheelchairs & batteries

The part that goes wrong. Battery chemistry and watt-hours decide whether your chair flies, and the rules differ depending on whether the battery can be removed.

Powered chairs accepted

Conditional

Electric wheelchairs are checked, but only after China Eastern confirms an application made at least 48 hours ahead: "Submission of the online application... does not constitute approval. Your requested flight may not be available due to service limits, seat availability, or airport operational constraints." On the day of travel the chair must be handed over 2 hours before departure.

Lithium-ion batteries

Conditional

Accepted only after China Eastern confirms: checking an electric wheelchair must be requested no later than 48 h before departure and "Submission of the online application indicates receipt of your request by China Eastern Airlines; however, it does not constitute approval… Approval is subject to our final confirmation." The battery must meet every test in Section 38.3, Part III of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria; it is removed and carried into the cabin (max 300 Wh each), and lithium-battery wheelchairs are exempt from the 160 Wh ban.

轮椅旅客服务须知 (Wheelchair passenger service notice, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 锂电池安全运输规定 (Lithium battery safe-transport rules, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Regulations on Safe Transportation of Lithium Batteries (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Information for Passengers with Wheelchairs (English edition, partly untranslated) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Watt-hour cap — battery stays in the chair

Not published

No watt-hour cap is published for a lithium battery left installed in the chair, because China Eastern's rule assumes removal: "If the design of the wheelchair allows for it, passengers must remove the battery and bring it on board." It publishes no procedure at all for a lithium wheelchair whose battery cannot be removed — call 95530 before booking.

锂电池安全运输规定 (Lithium battery safe-transport rules, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Regulations on Safe Transportation of Lithium Batteries (English) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Watt-hour cap — battery removed into the cabin

300 Wh

The removed battery is hand-carried into the cabin and each battery must not exceed 300 Wh. If the wheelchair is fitted with two batteries, each must not exceed 160 Wh.

Watt-hour cap — spare battery

300 Wh

Each passenger may carry one spare lithium battery of no more than 300 Wh, or two spare batteries of no more than 160 Wh each. Spare batteries must be hand-carried; they are banned from checked baggage.

Spare batteries permittedmaximum number under any published configuration

One spare of up to 300 Wh, or two spares of up to 160 Wh each, in the cabin.

Battery must be removed

Yes

"If the design of the wheelchair allows for it, passengers must remove the battery and bring it on board." The wheelchair page states the requirement flatly: the passenger must take the lithium battery out and carry it into the cabin.

Non-spillable batteriesgel, AGM, sealed lead-acid, dry cell

Conditional

For a wheelchair with a non-spillable (防漏型) battery, ensure the battery cannot short-circuit and is securely mounted; a detachable battery must be removed, carried in strong rigid packaging and stowed in the hold. Acceptance is reserved: checking in an electric wheelchair must be requested 48 h ahead and "Submission of the online application… does not constitute approval… Approval is subject to our final confirmation".

Wet / spillable batteries

Conditional

For a wheelchair with a spillable (溢漏型) battery the battery must be removed and placed in strong rigid packaging that is leak-proof, protected against short circuit, and packed around with absorbent material. Acceptance is reserved: checking in an electric wheelchair must be requested 48 h ahead and "Submission of the online application… does not constitute approval… Approval is subject to our final confirmation", 'subject to aircraft type and airport resources'.

Terminal protection & immobilisation

Yes

The wheelchair rule is packaging: "卸下或备用锂电池必须单个做好保护以防止损坏（如每个电池放入一个保护袋中）" — removed and spare lithium batteries must each be individually protected against damage, e.g. in a protective bag; a wet or non-spillable wheelchair battery must be secured so it "cannot short-circuit". Terminal insulation (retail packaging or tape over the electrodes), the overhead-bin ban and the no-charging rule are China Eastern's general spare-lithium-battery rules, not restated for wheelchairs.

Paperwork the airline wants

Not published

Not published. No battery spec sheet, MSDS, manufacturer label or test report is demanded — China Eastern requires only that the battery be of a type that has passed every test in Section 38.3, Part III of the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, which is a manufacturing standard, not paperwork. The Application Form for Special Assistance Passengers that a wheelchair passenger must bring to check-in in two printed copies asks nothing about the battery.

轮椅旅客服务须知 (Wheelchair passenger service notice, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 Information for Passengers with Wheelchairs (English edition, partly untranslated) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29 锂电池安全运输规定 (Lithium battery safe-transport rules, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Size limit for a powered chairCargo-hold door opening — not a stated chair limit

122 cm wide · 79 cm high

Not a stated chair limit: this is the tightest main cargo-door aperture in the published fleet table, the B737 rear compartment at "(0.79~0.89) x 1.22 m". China Eastern does not label which figure is height and which is width; the smaller is taken as height here. Bulk-compartment doors are smaller still (A330 0.62 x 0.95 m). Full table in aircraft_hold_note.

Transportation Standards for Passengers with Disabilities on China-U.S. Routes (14 CFR Part 382) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Weight limit for a powered chair

Not published

No weight limit for an electric wheelchair is published.

Returned at the aircraft door

Conditional

Published only for China–US routes, and worded for a chair the passenger can hand-carry: "旅客到港后可手提的轮椅或助行车可在登机口交接" — "portable wheelchairs or scooters can be picked up at the boarding gate". For a checked chair generally the passenger may instead nominate a delivery point inside the destination airport. Nothing is published for other routes.

Transportation Standards for Passengers with Disabilities on China-U.S. Routes (14 CFR Part 382) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Hand the electric wheelchair over 2 hours before departure on the day of travel. On China–US routes, if a chair that is within China Eastern's carriage scope cannot be loaded on the booked flight, the airline will let the passenger deplane and rebook them on the next available China Eastern flight or transfer them to another carrier.

Manual wheelchairs

Manual chairs accepted

Yes

Personal wheelchairs are carried free of charge and outside the free baggage allowance. Walking aids, walking sticks, prosthetic limbs, hearing aids, cochlear implants, blind canes and vision aids may be taken into the cabin as carry-on items.

Folding chair may travel in the cabin

Conditional

China Eastern's own page contradicts itself. Its assistive-device table lets you bring a folding wheelchair no larger than 33 x 91 x 106 cm into the cabin, first-come first-served; the US-route section allows one personal folding chair per flight on board, with priority over other carry-ons. But its Important Notes say "As wheelchairs cannot be stored in the passenger cabin, personal wheelchairs must be checked in." It is never guaranteed: "并不是所有航班都可以装载任何型号的轮椅" (not every flight can load every model of wheelchair).

In-cabin stowage limitIn-cabin stowage space

91 cm long · 33 cm wide · 106 cm high

A folding wheelchair may be brought into the cabin if it is "no larger than 33 x 91 x 106 cm / 13 x 36 x 42 in" (measured without removing the wheels or any parts). China Eastern does not label which figure is height, width or length; the axes here are an assumption from the smallest-to-largest order. Stowage is first-come, first-served and limited to one personal wheelchair per flight.

Size limit for a checked manual chair

Not published

China Eastern publishes no maximum wheelchair size. Instead it publishes the cargo-door dimensions of each fleet type so passengers can work out whether their chair will load — see aircraft_hold_note.

Transportation Standards for Passengers with Disabilities on China-U.S. Routes (14 CFR Part 382) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Weight limit for a manual chair

Not published

No weight limit for a checked wheelchair is published; the published constraint is the cargo-door aperture of the aircraft type.

Returned at the aircraft door

Conditional

Published only in China Eastern's China–US route standard: "After arrival passengers can pick up their portable wheelchairs or scooters at the boarding gate", or nominate another delivery point inside the destination airport, with a ground wheelchair provided until then. No equivalent promise is published for any other route, so gate return is conditional on flying a US route.

Transportation Standards for Passengers with Disabilities on China-U.S. Routes (14 CFR Part 382) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

Wheelchair service applies only to MU/FM-operated, MU/FM-numbered flights, and both airports must support it. The wheelchair may be occupied by the passenger only — staff pushing it cannot also carry an infant or oversized hand baggage. Where a flight has no jet bridge, China Eastern will try to provide a lifting vehicle for boarding and disembarking.

Booking & cost

Advance notice requiredhours before scheduled departure

48h

48 hours (inclusive, departure local time) to check an electric wheelchair or to obtain a cabin (aisle) wheelchair; 24 hours for a ground or apron wheelchair. China Eastern answers within 24 hours whether it can provide the service. Submitting the request online is only receipt, not approval — it can be refused for carriage quota, seat availability or airport capability.

How to request assistance

Apply through a China Eastern ticket office, the 95530 hotline (+86 21 20695530 from abroad) or the official website / app / mobile site, submitting the Application Form for Special Assistance Passengers; bring two printed copies to check-in

Service is only offered on flights actually operated by China Eastern or Shanghai Airlines under an MU/FM flight number, and both origin and destination airports must offer it (check the Airport Information section). Arrive 120 minutes before departure; with an electric wheelchair, come 2 hours early to hand it over. Expect a confirmation call 09:00–19:00; if none within 4 hours, resubmit or call 95530.

Charge for carrying the aid

No fee

"The airline will carry the passenger's wheelchair free of charge, and it will not count toward the free baggage allowance." If there is no cabin storage space, China Eastern also checks the assistive device free of charge.

Mobility devices carried free

Not published

No single number is published. The passenger's own wheelchair is carried free and outside the baggage allowance, and in addition "passengers with disabilities eligible to fly can check for free one assistive device other than those listed" in the carry-on assistive-device table.

If they damage your chair

China–US routes: repair or replacement at China Eastern's cost, claimed through the destination-airport CRO within 7 days (or the 400-60-95530 baggage hotline), plus loan/rental reimbursement and fare-difference refunds; nothing equivalent published for other routes

Under its 14 CFR Part 382 standards China Eastern will repair or replace a wheelchair it damaged and pay the cost, including transport to a vendor the passenger chooses within reason (from 17 Mar 2025). Claim via the destination-airport Complaints Resolution Official within 7 days of the chair being returned, or the baggage hotline 400-60-95530. A loan chair is provided; a rental is reimbursed within 30 days of a complete receipt. Delayed chairs are delivered to the passenger's home or hotel within 24 h (flights up to 12 h) or 30 h (over 12 h).

Transportation Standards for Passengers with Disabilities on China-U.S. Routes (14 CFR Part 382) (opens in a new tab) · read 2026-07-29

On board

On-board aisle chair

Yes

Cabin (aisle) wheelchairs are carried on China Eastern's large aircraft and are designed for the aisle so passengers can reach the lavatory. They must be requested at least 48 hours before departure. Cabin crew are trained to help the passenger use the chair but "cannot lift or move you".

Accessible lavatory

Yes

"We have washrooms for persons with disabilities on many of our larger aircraft. However, the availability of this facility depends on the size and structure of the aircraft." China Eastern does not list which types have one.

Crew help you transfer

Yes

Staff assist with boarding, disembarking and transfers, and a lifting vehicle is arranged where possible on flights without a jet bridge. Limits are stated plainly: cabin crew cannot lift or move a passenger, feed them, help with personal hygiene or with using the lavatory — a passenger needing that care must travel with someone who can provide it.

Seating & movable armrests

Yes

Movable aisle armrests are fitted on some aircraft types, with the number and location of such seats varying by type; if your armrest does not move, gate staff and crew will look for another seat. Companions are seated adjacent, and a passenger with limited mobility may be given a seat better suited to their mobility on request.

Fleet detail. China Eastern publishes cargo-door dimensions in metres (axes unlabelled) so passengers can judge whether a chair will load: B777 front/rear 1.70 x 2.59, bulk 1.12 x 0.84; B787 front/rear 1.70 x 2.69, bulk 1.51 x 1.02; B737 front 0.89 x 1.22, rear (0.79–0.89) x 1.22; A319 front/rear 1.233 x 1.816; A320 front/rear 1.228 x 1.817, bulk 0.704 x 0.954; A321 front/rear 1.235 x 1.817, bulk 0.704 x 0.954; A330 front 1.699 x 2.701, rear 1.682 x 2.446, bulk 0.62 x 0.95; A350 front 1.679 x 2.852, rear 1.679 x 2.797, bulk 0.762 x 0.950. The B737 rear compartment is the tightest main hold door in the fleet.

Worth knowing

The English 'Information for Passengers with Wheelchairs' page leaves the two most important blocks — the electric-wheelchair battery packaging rules and the US-route in-cabin stowage rule — untranslated in Simplified Chinese, so those values are translated from the Chinese text and language_of_source is 'zh'. Three things a human should re-check: (1) the page contradicts itself on cabin stowage — the assistive-device table and the US-route section allow a folding chair up to 33 x 91 x 106 cm in the cabin, while the Important Notes say wheelchairs cannot be stored in the cabin at all; (2) China Eastern publishes no procedure or Wh cap for a lithium battery that cannot be removed — its rule assumes every chair battery comes out into the cabin; (3) the cargo-door table does not say which figure is height and which is width. Almost all of the strong passenger protections (gate return, repair/replacement, CRO, rebooking, fare-difference refund) are published only for China–US routes.

Sources

Every figure above traces to one of these.

s1 轮椅旅客服务须知 (Wheelchair passenger service notice, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s2 Information for Passengers with Wheelchairs (English edition, partly untranslated) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s3 Transportation Standards for Passengers with Disabilities on China-U.S. Routes (14 CFR Part 382) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s4 锂电池安全运输规定 (Lithium battery safe-transport rules, Simplified Chinese) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29
s5 Regulations on Safe Transportation of Lithium Batteries (English) (opens in a new tab) · official · read 2026-07-29

Record status researched · confidence high · 5 official sources · 3 contacts · 81% of the fields this reference tracks are answered. Newest source read 29 July 2026, the day before this page was built. What these mean.

China Eastern

Who to contact

Read it from the source

Powered wheelchairs & batteries

Manual wheelchairs

Booking & cost

On board

Worth knowing

Sources

Record quality