Review of China Airlines flight Surabaya → Singapore in Business

China Airlines lately has become one of my choices of airlines to commute from/to my home base in Surabaya due to the great pricing, and most of all, the great product offering. It is also the only Skyteam member besides Garuda Indonesia that operates direct flights to SUB, which means I have a bigger chance to earn miles with them.

This trip was actually a part of my "joy flight" to Taipei, connecting in SIN. For those who are interested, the TPE-SIN sector can be found in this TPE-SIN CI flight

At Juanda Airport (SUB)

It was a usual busy morning at SUB with flights departing to KUL, HKG, BWN by Air Asia, Cathay Pacific, and Royal Brunei respectively.
China Airlines counter can be easily spotted thanks to these two "smiling FAs".


I was the only one checking-in at the C class counter, and apparently during the flight, it also shows that there were only 10 of us in total of 30 seats in business cabin. Quite a low load.


Check-in was not as smooth as expected since I didn't have my Taiwanese visa in hand. I did not apply for it at the first place simply because my intention was just to spend a night at TPE without clearing immigration and flew back in the next morning. This obviously brought some trouble to the agent, afraid that I might sneak out or causing unnecessary trouble while in TPE and subsequently would bring more problems to the airlines. I explained to him about my plan and then he told me to wait because he needed to speak with his supervisor first which was still unavailable at that morning. By the time the SPV arrived, they finally checked me in and gave me a piece of paper saying that China Airlines would be out of liability if anything happens to me or if I cause any troubles while in TPE. It looks like they haven't encountered many weird avgeek flyers like me though.

Boarding pass and lounge invitation all set, together with the ones to TPE which came handy inside a good-looking envelope.



I walked pass through immigration and headed down to a newly built Concordia Premier Lounge. This is a huge improvement compared to the old lounge that you can find it here Old Business Class Lounge in SUB

The lounge has a fresh looking ambience, bright colors and lighting with plenty of seats. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to spend inside nor did I try the food, so just took some pictures for the sake of the lounge.



China Airlines A330-300 aircraft reg B-18355 has been waiting overnight beside a CX aircraft bound to Hong Kong. It's now being prepared by the ground crew for boarding.

Inside the Aircraft

Boarding commenced and in an orderly manner.
The purser greets me at the front door and shows me the way to my seat. As expected, it was regional business class seat which means the seat is angled-flat in 2-2-2 configuration.


The seat is equipped with universal power ports and USB ports. Between two adjacent seats there is a retractable divider that you can use to add some privacy. The seat controller is easy to use, though tend to be the old-fashioned one.



A small pillow and a blanket were already there on each seat. Chic-looking headphones are still wrapped and put inside the seat pocket.



As I said before, the load factor was quite low in business today. This is how the cabin looks during boarding, fresh and clean.



Right after I was seated, one FA approached me proactively and asked what I would like to have for welcome drink. They had apple juice, orange juice and stilled water. No alcohol was offered for welcome drink. I opted for apple juice this time and it came with one pack of mixed nuts.


The FAs have a very good command in English, so no need to worry. Although I spoke Mandarin all the time with them.

During this time, the crews have distributed menu and drink list. In contrary to many flyers who have been with CI before who said the crew took back their menu just minutes after it was distributed, we actually can ask the crew to leave the menu around and that's what I did. This request was happily obliged so the key is just ask them politely.
One FA took my order for breakfast and asked what I wanted to drink. I opted for green tea to accompany the meal and Bloody Mary right after meal service finishes.

Minutes later, the crew came once again to offer an oshibori, and then took the empty glass to prepare for take-off.


After reaching cruising altitude, the crew sprung up in action to provide breakfast service. They seemed to be in a hurry considering a relatively short flight time to SIN. By this time, all window shades were closed down. I actually prefer daylight and also this was already a morning flight, so I found it quite odd and not much to my liking that the crew shut down all of them.


Here's the menu and Dynasty Lounge drink list for this flight as what they called it:


I chose Indonesian style Honey Ginger Prawn and Fried Egg with Coconut Rice. This main course came together in one tray with the muffin, fruits and yogurt. The food was excellent, both in quality and quantity.


A closer look to the main:


Since this was still in the morning, I decided to refrain in taking much alcohol so I chose green tea and water for the drinks.


After the tray was cleared, one FA brought up a glass of Bloody Mary that I ordered before take-off, now complete with two packs of mixed nuts. Such a nice gesture from the crew that they did not miss every request from passengers and even made it extra with two packs of snacks even without being asked.



Still had one hour to go after meal service, and I was just lounging on the seat that became angled-flat now while listening to music they have on offer and sipping another cup of delicious green tea.
This is how the seat looks like when it's turned down.



A smooth flight with excellent crews really made up a great journey, especially for this "joyful flight" reviewing different premium products on offer out there.