Review of EVA Air flight Hong Kong Taipei in Business

Airline EVA Air
Flight BR872
Class Business
Seat 5K
Aircraft Boeing 787-9
Flight time 01:45
Take-off 16 Feb 19, 19:25
Arrival at 16 Feb 19, 21:10
BR   #5 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 140 reviews
Rewardflying
Published on 1st April 2019
The flight summary for this RTW trip.

ORD-HND ANA 777-300 First Class / United Polaris Lounge - click here
HND-HKG ANA 787-9 Business Class - click here

HKG-TPE EVA Air 787-9 Business Class - this report


TPE-HKG Hong Kong Airlines A350-9 Business Class - to come
HKG-DXB Emirates A380 First Class - to come
DXB-ORD Emirates B777 First Class / Emirates DXB First Class Lounge - to come

photo br872 cover

One of the best routes to try out new aircraft is Hong to Taipei. Previously I’ve flow Cathay Pacific A350 and China Airlines A350 on this sector. This trip it’s EVA Air B787-9 and Hong Kong Airlines A350. Sure it’s only a little over an hour flight so you don’t get the full treatment, but I must say the treatment on an Asian airline for an hour flight is far different from the treatment on an hour long US domestic flight.

After contemplating and rejecting taking a trip into Hong Kong during my 7 hour layover, I spent my time in the AMEX Centurion. It’s next to the United Club lounge near Gate 60 and across the concourse from the Emirates lounge. It has a nice view of the tarmac, as most HKG lounges have. It had various types of seating but nothing that might remind you of a lounging type chair.

photo br872 amex l sitting 1photo br872 amex l sitting 2

The food was fair, albeit not particularly plentiful. The bartender was super nice feeding me copious amounts of water.




Did I mention the view?

photo br872 scenic sunset

Following the inbound flight from TPE on Flightradar24 I knew exactly when to depart the lounge. Fortunately the shiny new EVA Air Boeing 787-9 landed just prior to darkness.

On my way to the gate I caught a glimpse of Finnair’s Oneworld livery A350. The Finnair A350 has been elusive in my quest to fly.

photo br872 hkg 0

Perfect timing.

photo br872 scenic hkg 1
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photo br872 scenic hkg 2
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photo br872 hkg 4
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photo br872 hkg 3

Boarding from Door 2, I made my way up the right side aisle to my seat 5K. The cabin had a nice boarding color scheme for this evening’s flight to Taipei.

photo br872 cabin 1

The Vantage XL seats are smartly trimmed with subtle grays and highlighted with EVA Air green over a mossy colored cushion.

photo br872 cabin 2
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photo br872 cabin 3

EVA Air only put 28 business class seats in the front cabin on this 787-9 aircraft.

photo br872 cabin 4
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photo br872 seat map

It’s the exact LOPA as Qantas employs on their 787-9 in the front cabin. (QF also has 3 rows behind door 2.) Having flown the QF 787 over the summer I commented when showing the Seatguru map: “Here is the reason row 5 window isn’t green. The window is misaligned, or actually you only get one instead of two.”

photo br872 cabin 5

So when sitting in the seat this is your window view.

photo br872 row 5 window 1photo br872 row 5 window 2

A better view. Next time I’ll take my own advice. Moral is, on a 787-9 with Vantage XL seats don’t pick row 5 window!

photo br872 cabin 7

The view from 5K show these seats are barely offset so privacy isn’t that great on this aircraft.

photo br872 cabin privacy

Otherwise it is a beautiful cabin.

photo br872 cabin 6

The bulkhead wall has EVA Air in white lights that wouldn’t focus on my camera no matter how many photos I took.

photo br872 cabin bulkhead 1

Standard size 787 lavs.

photo br872 cabin lav 1photo br872 cabin lav 2photo br872 cabin lav 3

Vantage XL seats are great business class seats. I’m not sure about 16 hours from PER to LHR on Qantas, but for the purposes of what appears EVA Air is using these 787-9’s for, regional Asian and Australian flights of around 7-8 hours maximum, they are very well suited. Yes EVA’s 777 Cirrus seats are slightly better in my opinion, but these are pretty good too.

photo br872 seat 1
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photo br872 seat 2
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photo br872 seat 3
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photo br872 seat 4
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photo br872 seat 5

What has become the normal width for entering a business class seat that hugs the window.

photo br872 seat 6

Footwell is wide enough for small to medium sized feet at the end for a comfortable sleep, otherwise turning larger feet sideways might be a problem.

photo br872 seat 7

The side-table is plenty wide and neatly holds the IFE controller power ports and seat controls including presets.

photo br872 seat table

A second set of seat presets is next to your thigh when sitting, but bezeled so you can’t inadvertently touch them.

photo br872 seat controls
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photo br872 seat power

A storage compartment with a door/mirror holds the headphones and has an additional storage cubby below. Nice design.

photo br872 seat storage 1photo br872 seat storage 2

While the coat hook is placed in the entry area for window seats, center seats seem to have the hook closer to being in the aisle.

photo br872 seat coat hook 1photo br872 seat coat hook 2
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photo br872 seat placard
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photo br872 amenity pillow

Time to go.

photo br872 away they go

Once airborne EVA’s excellent service began.

photo br872 amenity 1
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photo br872 menu cover
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photo br872 menu bev1 -  white wine
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photo br872 menu bev2 - red wine
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photo br872 menu bev3 - fort wine
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photo br872 menu bev4 - liq
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photo br872 menu food
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photo br872 seat 8

I chose the Honey Glazed Chicken.

photo br872 food main 1

EVA swung and missed on this dish. There wasn’t much to like.

photo br872 food main 2

Including the dessert. Can’t win them all.

photo br872 food des

The touch IFE monitor is excellent. The problem is content. There were very few movies and if you compared it to ANA’s content, my estimate is Eva had about 10% of what ANA has.

photo br872 amenity hpphoto br872 ife 1photo br872 ife 2

Sans the food on this 1 hour flight, it was nice to fly EVA’s new 787-9 aircraft.

photo br872 cabin mood lighting
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photo br872 flight path

For a sweet spot redemption and how this widebody rates against other click to rewardflying.com
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Verdict

EVA Air

6.6/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Meal/catering5.0

American Express Centurion Lounge

6.8/10
Comfort6.0
Meal/catering7.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Services7.0

Hong Kong - HKG

7.5/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.5

Taipei - TPE

7.8/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.5

Conclusion

Eva Air offers one of the best business class experiences of all international airlines. This new aircraft is targeted for routes to Japan/Korea as well as Australia and if you are lucky to fly on one, there's no doubt you'll have a great flight. Great quiet aircraft, EVA FAs are very good and typically the food is good as well.

Information on the route Hong Kong (HKG) Taipei (TPE)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 60 avis concernant 5 compagnies sur la ligne Hong Kong (HKG) → Taipei (TPE).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Cathay Pacific avec 8.4/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 38 minutes.

  More information

7 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 495644 by
    lbfortress 67 Comments
    Nice review. Eva's 787-9 looks like it has a fabulous business cabin.

    EVA swung and missed on this dish. There wasn’t much to like.


    That's too bad. It looked nice at least. What do you think was the miss?

    I hope to fly this 787-9 one day.
  • Comment 495648 by
    Rewardflying AUTHOR 493 Comments
    Hi Lbfortress, thanks for reading and the nice compliment.

    That's too bad. It looked nice at least. What do you think was the miss?

    -Chicken was terrible, tough and chewy and the rice was dried out. Happens.

    I hope to fly this 787-9 one day.

    -I hope you do too!

    Thanks again.
  • Comment 495649 by
    ThomasDutch SILVER 633 Comments
    A very neat looking product indeed I think they offer on their 787, despite the quality of your meal. Let's hope it was just a small error from their side. Can't wait to try their 787 out to Bangkok from Amsterdam when they swap their 777 to a 787 on BR75/76 in June.
  • Comment 495650 by
    STAR-ALLIANCE-FLYER 48 Comments
    I just booked this exact same flight using my CA miles on this upcoming May!!! Look forward to my journey.

    However, why not use SQ lounge @ HKG? Isn't that a much better choice compared to UA club and Centurion lounge?
    Also, on your midnight arrival into Taipei, I booked myself novotel, is that easy to find inside the airport?
    • Comment 495725 by
      Rewardflying AUTHOR 493 Comments
      Hi StarAllianceFlier

      However, why not use SQ lounge @ HKG? Isn't that a much better choice compared to UA club and Centurion lounge?

      -Last November I visited the SQ lounge in HKG and was rather embarrassed for Singapore Airlines as it was a lounge that wasn't becoming of SIA in any regard.

      Also, on your midnight arrival into Taipei, I booked myself novotel, is that easy to find inside the airport?
      -No you have to take the hotel shuttle. It's easy though. Once you exit into the arrivals hall go left until it ends then another left to reach the opposite side of the terminal. The busses are there. If I remember its stall #28 but don't hold me to that. The shuttle runs every 20 minutes and it's 5 minutes to the hotel.

      Thanks for reading and I'm sure you will enjoy your trip on BR.
  • Comment 495722 by
    Rewardflying AUTHOR 493 Comments
    Hi ThomasDutch,

    The meal would not dissuade me from taking EVA anywhere anytime given the chance.

    Can't wait to try their 787 out to Bangkok from Amsterdam when they swap their 777 to a 787 on BR75/76 in June.

    -I'd read that these weren't going to Europe or USA. I stand corrected. Thanks for reading and looking forward to your trip report.
  • Comment 495879 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Hi RewardFlying, great report as usual! A very aesthetically pleasing 787 experience: Beautiful special livery and that cabin is gorgeous. The best looking Vantage XL cabin IMO. Too bad the meal was a miss, it looked visually good at least. And it is an impressive looking meal service on a 1.5 hour flight.

    Thanks for sharing!

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