Intro + TPE airport
Freedom time has finally come, and we're going to Singapore.
At around 5:25 AM, I found myself outside TPE's Terminal 1.
Since it was right at the beginning of summer vacation, the airport looked to be extremely, extremely crowded.
The line for check in looked like it was going to take 30 minutes, but after a shocking fast 10 minutes, we were all done checking in.
Our flight was CI753 with an 8:05AM departure and 12:35PM arrival.
China Airlines operates 2 daily flights to Singapore. One of them is ours, a daytime flight with an 8:05AM departure and arriving into TPE at night, and the other is CI755/756, a red-eye departing TPE at 8PM, and arriving back in TPE at around 7AM.
Security looked bad. There was a huge line inside of all those doors, but after just 15 minutes, we made it through.
We had lounge access again due to my dad's credit card, and this time it was one that I have actually heard of, the Plaza Premium lounge.
The lounge was small with not too many food options, but it did the job, and I didn't want to spend much time in it anyway.
After a measley 20 minutes, I headed to our gate A7 and saw our plane: B-18903. She is a 9-year old A359 and was delivered brand new to China Airlines back in 2016.
China Airlines has 3 configurations for their A359. Every A359 except for B-18919 and B-18920 have 306 seats configured in J32W31Y243, with J in a 1-2-1, W in a 2-3-2, and Y in a 3-3-3 configuration. B-18919 has 300 seats configured in J40W32Y228, with J in a 1-2-1, W in a 2-4-2, and Y in a 3-3-3 configuration. B-18920 has 331 seats configured in J28Y303, with J in a 1-2-1, and Y being in 3-3-3.
B-18910 will operate as CI781 to SGN
B-18052 will operate as CI152 to KIX.
At around 7:25, right on the scheduled time, boarding was announced. At the time of boarding, it seemed to be a completely full flight.
There were a lot of people around so I didn't really feel comfortable taking pictures of the cabin, so apologies for that. The only picture I got was of the seats next to me.
Since it was only a 4 hour flight, no blankets or pillows were provided. However, there was the option to ask for them, and the crew would give them to you.
For storage, the seats had some in-seat storage underneath the IFE, and a seat-back pocket.
The legroom was sufficient, and with the seat came a safety card and magazine.
The tray table was about average
There was also a socket/charging port and adjustable headrests.
At around 8:02AM, the purser came onto the PA and announced that our flight time would be 3:45. They also displayed the safety video along with it.
At 8:10AM, the pilot came onto the PA and announced that we were ready to go, but due to slot restrictions, we had to wait another 15-20 minutes.
At 8:26AM, engine 1 was started up, and at 8:35, we pushed as the number 2 RR-Trent XWB roared to life. After that I had the absolute pleasure of listening to the iconic A350 flaps.
At 9:02 AM, delayed by almost 1 hour, we finally lifed off of runway 05L, headed for Singapore.
As we passed FL100, I checked out the IFE. It had a nice selection of movies, games, and most importantly, an interactive in-flight-map.
There was also complimentary wifi, but it was only meant for texting. For wifi fast enough for streaming, you had to pay 21 dollars for the full flight. Despite this, I gave flightradar24 a try, and to my surprise, it actually worked.
Around 30 minutes after departure, the drink service started. I got coke, and on the side they would also give you a small bag of snacks.
China Airlines also had this "mood lighting".
At around 10AM, we ran into some turbulence. The crew got to work fast, ensuring everyone was in their seats, and at the end of the turbulence PA, they added a "cabin crew, complete safety check", which I had never heard before.
At around 10:40, the cabin crew came out with the food service. Today was a choice between some seafood noodles and some prok rice. I went with the pork rice. On the side was some fruit, a salad, and a random piece of bread. They were also serving ice cream, but you had to ask for it.
It also came with metal cutlery that was NOT freezing.
It was good! The rice was a tiny bit soggy but apart from that it was a really nice meal. I would say better than the last time I flew CI.
The ice cream was some sort of sweet flavor, but I couldn't exactly figure out what the flavor was based off of.
We were flying through all clouds at FL400 at one point.
At 12:07, the captain announced that we would be descending soon, and to expect cloudy weather in Singapore.
At 12:20, we started our descent, and at 12:56, we touched down on runway 20R, just over 20 minutes behind schedule.
Our bird's view from in front.
Changi airport was very nice and clean, but the machine-immigration did have an issue when I was trying to pass through, and I had to be brought into an area where they checked me manually.
All in all, I would say this was a very pleasurable experience. The product overall was definitely better than the 777, and I would definitely fly CI on a short-medium haul again. I think their 777s would fit perfectly for flights to Singapore.
