China Airlines has just taken delivery of their first few A350 aircraft and are flying training routes in Asia before deploying the aircraft on long haul routes. Recently China Airlines announced they will be flying their Airbus A350 aircraft on the Taipei - San Francisco route. While in Taiwan, when the opportunity to fly on this aircraft presented itself, I didn't hesitate. My only disappointment, if you can call it that, was I flew the 2 month old A350 instead of the 2 day old A350. Missed by a day! Poor me.
Here is the 2 day old aircraft #903, waiting to go somewhere else. China Air also received their 4th A350 from Airbus on this day.
Carrier: China Airlines Date: December 30, 2016 Route: TPE-HKG-TPE Flight #: CI641/CI642 Aircraft: A350 #B-18091 Configuration: J32/W31/Y243 Seat(s): 10A/10G/10K On Time: A little tardy
Having experienced the morning chaos at Taipei's Taoyuan on prior travels, I made sure to give myself ample time to pass security and immigration. While not as busy as last time, the process still took 30 minutes. There is no fast track for premium class fliers at TPE.
Once through I made my way to the China Airlines lounge.
At 7:30AM with all the overnight passengers waiting for regional connections the place was packed. It's a comfortable lounge. While I didn't mind the dark dungeony feel to it, I can see where others might not. It is fairly good sized lounge without any natural light. Almost all seats are cushy couch like chairs. Only a few tables were offered for eating.
These China Airlines travelers were a hungry lot as it was every man, woman and child for themselves at the buffett. Most of my photos are of empty trays.
After a coffee I headed down to the gate strolling through the shopping mall, err, Airport.
Gorgeous.
Sometimes I wonder about boarding agents. It's what they do, many times a day. Why is it that it seems they've never done it before? They had already loaded those that needed assistance, then they announced general boarding would be delayed. It didn't matter to me, but why?
The China Airlines A350 cabin is stunning.
From the back.
Mood lighting. The red shade was a running light going back and forth through the cabin.
Stock lavatory that wasn't particularly well supplied.
The Sky Bistro is located at door 2 and was not offered on this flight.
What it's supposed to look like when open for business.
A look back at Premium Economy. Any ideas on what this means? My translator shows "Water Post Hill Station"??
Having tried all of the most popular business class seats, for my tastes, the B/E Aerospace Super Diamond is the winner and China Airlines has installed them on their long haul aircraft. This makes CI an airline to consider when going long.
The China Airlines version of the seat seems similar to the stock version, unlike some others like Qatar who've done a number of upgrades. The lamp is an interesting, homey addition.
The underside of the door cover is a large mirror, yet is still awkward to use.
This little compartment at the base of the seat seems rather useless however.
The aisle armrest can be lowered for more seat width and also doubles as a storage compartment for headphones or a bottle of water.
Plenty of foot room for stretching out on this 90 minute flight.
The two center seats do not have a retractable privacy divider. This is fine for couples but for solo travelers you want to get a window seat if you can. You can open the storage door for a partition, but you end up looking at yourself, or your food, in the mirror.
Avoid seats D or G in row 10 unless you want to view the galley. You have no privacy in these seats at all. The window seats in row 10 are fine so disregard SeatGuru's yellow marking for these seats.
Amenities: Obviously this was not a sleeping flight but a nice ample pillow and soft comfortable blanket were provided.
Grab a paper on your way in.
Be careful of the hottest Oshibori on record. Yes I was warned. I tried to get the steam on a photo, didn't work.
Menu for today's 93 and 71 minute flights:
Ok, so the beverage part is a little cluttered. But when is the last time you got a printed menu on an hour flight?
For that matter, when did you get a full meal on an hour flight? I'm talking to you, USA fliers.
Albeit lunch at breakfast time. Perfection can be elusive.
For breakfast on this 9:10AM flight I chose the braised sea bass. But first I enjoyed some juice as it was too early for champagne for me, but was available. The mixed snacks didn't get opened based on the ingredients.
Again, an hour flight.
Ok, so points were deducted for presentation. But it was tasty.
And the Milk Tea Mousse was just like mom used to make.
Points have to be awarded for real salt and pepper shakers (QF).
Then on the way back I got to have lunch. This time I chose the chicken which I enjoyed.
Getting a full meal on a 500 mile flight is pretty impressive. US domestic airlines should look to Asia for a tip or two on what premium class should be.
The bad news first. I was in 10A and after the safety video my monitor went out. Denise, the wonderful cabin manager on this flight sat me in 10G so I could watch something. The next bad news is China Airlines did not get the outside cameras on their A350's (or they weren't showing them on this flight as well as not being on the IFE system as an option.) The video bug was understandable as new plane kinks need to be worked out. In fact, Airbus had a representative on this flight and he fixed the issue while on the ground in Hong Kong.
The high definition monitor could be clearly seen even with the window open.
The crew was overly friendly, attentive and fun to be around. Denise introduced herself at the beginning of the flight and called me by name each time she spoke to me. Plus she was super excited to be working on this aircraft.
I would not hesitate to fly China Airlines in the future. Both Taiwanese carriers, China Airlines and EVA Airlines provide excellent premium transportation services.
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Hi! The official English name given by CI for "水郵山驛" is "Flying Oasis" as seen here: http://www.nownews.com/n/2014/12/25/1556420 CI made this area for modern travellers to have some an area to take a quick rest, as quoted from CI's Malaysia official fb: https://www.facebook.com/chinaairlinesmalaysia/posts/320113344860037
Just the four words itself.... Did a quick google on it and word "郵" has the meaning of a resting stop for people & "驛" means an area to change horses and rest. It's actually a vvv old poem. Overall, the 4 words "水郵山驛" means the travelling life(?). It's in chinese but I got it from here: http://pedia.cloud.edu.tw/Entry/Detail/?title=%E6%B0%B4%E9%83%B5%E5%B1%B1%E9%A9%9B
It may not be the most proper/correct translation but I hope this gives you a better idea!
Flying Oasis makes much more sense Aduxsified. Thanks. All though I do like the "area to change horses and rest". I'll be careful with my Google translator app, especially in China!
China Airlines' A359 looks fantastic! And the soft product for a short hop looks good, too. They don't serve you from a cart, but deliver straight from the galley, no? (always a fan of the personal touches)
The Business Class lounge is aesthetically pleasing. Though after being stuck in a metal tube for a good few hours, I think it'd be more soothing to have windows installed. It doesn't necessarily have to be ceiling-to-floor, but enough to let the outside natural light illuminate the lounge. It would certainly help ease the claustrophobia.
Impressed with China Airlines. Flew the route on CX 350 as well (report to come) and I think CI was the better of the 2. Come to think of it, the lounge are located on the upper level of TPE. Arrivals and ticketing are on the first floor. Then you go upstairs for security and the gates/lounges. When you get to the gate you go back down to the main level. Upstairs has all the shops. And as I recall there aren't any windows up there. So maybe all the lounges have no windows?? In any case it's pretty dark inside the Dynasty lounge.
Excellent report! With a product like this, between the amenities, meal sevice, IFE, and the obviously comfortable plane, time flies on a 90 minute flight!
Thanks for this exclusive look at the brand new CI A350! The J cabin looks gorgeous and W looks pretty nice too. Very good service for such a short flight. China Airlines has always trailed Eva Air in reputation, especially when they had their old J cabin. With all the improvements as of late and the fleet renewal, CI is giving BR a run for their money.
I agree Kevin DC, but... I took EVA on an hour flight from TPE to PVG and they were equally impressive with service and amenities. Obviously it wasn't an A350 but flying these 2 carriers makes me wish I was based in Taiwan. Food's not so bad there either!
Wow! The 350 loooks nice! Same interior as the 777s. FRs coming up soon for Y+ long haul (777. SFO-TPE and TPE-SFO) and short haul J (747 TPE-BKK, and 330 BKK-TPE, my first time in J!)
Thank you Rewardflying for sharing this exclusive FR on CI's A350.
I agree with you about the stunning cabin in J. Really nice job.
When I was searching for fares in Y+ from the US to Asia last year, i discovered that CI would put you in J on the intra-Asian connections. That really is a nice advantage in their favor.
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The official English name given by CI for "水郵山驛" is "Flying Oasis" as seen here: http://www.nownews.com/n/2014/12/25/1556420
CI made this area for modern travellers to have some an area to take a quick rest, as quoted from CI's Malaysia official fb: https://www.facebook.com/chinaairlinesmalaysia/posts/320113344860037
Just the four words itself.... Did a quick google on it and word "郵" has the meaning of a resting stop for people & "驛" means an area to change horses and rest. It's actually a vvv old poem. Overall, the 4 words "水郵山驛" means the travelling life(?). It's in chinese but I got it from here: http://pedia.cloud.edu.tw/Entry/Detail/?title=%E6%B0%B4%E9%83%B5%E5%B1%B1%E9%A9%9B
It may not be the most proper/correct translation but I hope this gives you a better idea!
Thanks for the report too!! :D
China Airlines' A359 looks fantastic! And the soft product for a short hop looks good, too. They don't serve you from a cart, but deliver straight from the galley, no? (always a fan of the personal touches)
The Business Class lounge is aesthetically pleasing. Though after being stuck in a metal tube for a good few hours, I think it'd be more soothing to have windows installed. It doesn't necessarily have to be ceiling-to-floor, but enough to let the outside natural light illuminate the lounge. It would certainly help ease the claustrophobia.
Thanks again for this report!
Thanks for sharing this great report!
I agree with you about the stunning cabin in J. Really nice job.
When I was searching for fares in Y+ from the US to Asia last year, i discovered that CI would put you in J on the intra-Asian connections. That really is a nice advantage in their favor.
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