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Taipei Taoyuan International
I took a taxi from the hotel to the airport. While checking out at the hotel on this early Sunday Morning, another agent approached me and asked if I need a taxi to the airport and which airline I was flying on. I mentioned Eva Airways and he confirmed this and told also the terminal, which was terminal 2. He called one of the waiting taxis and loaded my luggage and mentioned my destination to the taxi driver. The drive to the airport was somehow scary as the driver seems to be very tired as he did not stay in the lines, drove way too fast and also did not always look on the road. He also did not speak English as I was asking him to look on the road. He did not understood what I was asking but smiled instead. After ignoring several red lights and also nearly missing the exit, I was more than happy to be delivered at the airport, but the wrong terminal. He was thinking I was flying Thai Airways (no idea, why he was thinking it), but as I showed him the printout with the logo of Eva Airways, he was only saying, oh BR Ways ... At the airport the indication of which airline is using which terminal is indicated by the two letter codes and Eva Airways uses BR, so it was BR to him. Somehow the Eva Airways had been transmitted into Thai ... Well I survived the drive over to the other terminal and approached the Royal Laurel Class Check in at the airport. There was a dedicated Star Gold check in as well, which was empty while Royal Laurel Class check in was busy, so I used this one.
My luggage was checked to Bangkok as I wanted to clear immigration and re-check it there for the flight to Phuket as this means I could use the domestic arrival belt and I was travelling on two different tickets. With enough time in Bangkok, I decided to not risk anything.
I was given the boarding pass for my flight to Bangkok and also a lounge invitation to the Infinity Lounge at Taipei. Several passengers were queuing at the security checkpoint on the right side while the two checkpoints on the left side were more or less empty. It was from my view the usual situation when one passenger follows the passenger in front without paying attention if there are other checkpoints available.
No beep from the x-ray machine, not need for my carry on to be hand-searched and soon I was queuing at the also not very busy immigration counters, where my passport was stamped and I am allowed to leave the Republic of China.
The lounges at Taipei Taoyuan’s Terminal 2 are also located upstairs and I made my way upstairs, which clearly marked signboards at the escalator indicating which lounges (and food outlets) are located upstairs.
Eva Airways has four lounges, the Infinity Lounge and the Club, which share the entrance, the Garden, which is temporarily closed as it is undergoing renovation and another Club Lounge, which is used by Eva Airways frequent traveller with lounge access travelling in Economy Class as well as Star Gold customers travelling in Economy Class. However, it seems, Star Gold customers could also use the other Club Lounge, the access rules are not that clear to me and I got contrary information by the lounge agents, who did not speak English as well as I would have expected at an international airport if it comes to other than the basic questions.
Infinity Lounge
Star Gold / Business Class Lounge
The Infinity Lounge is modern and has a more stylish interior, but is smaller than the Club on the opposite side, which is contemporary in design but offers more seats. Both offer a buffet section with a good variety of different snacks, which consists at this morning of dim sum, rolls, bread, sausages and other dishes. Alcoholic beverage was also already available. The selection of newspapers and magazines however was limited, but the reason might be that on Sunday usually a limited number of papers are available. The FT Weekend however was available and this was the one I grabbed to read while waiting for my flight.
The Club (Star Gold Lounge)
Announcements were made, if the boarding did not start at the scheduled boarding time and in the first time, I thought I misunderstood the announcement, but in the lounge and also in the terminal announcements were made, if there was a delay of only five minutes.
I left the lounge ahead of boarding time as I wanted to walk a little bit and see, if I can get a picture of one of the “Hello Kitty” livery planes and I was lucky, there was one right next to our plane bound for Bangkok.
Boarding passes were checked at the entrance to the waiting area, which was one floor down. The area was already quite full ... Boarding would be delayed by five minutes. There were no announcement made for the start of the boarding procedure instead one of the agents hold up a signboard with “Zone A and Business Class”. Another agent at the aero-bridge verified another time the boarding pass against the passport and also if one was allowed to board the plane.
11 May 2014
TPE – BKK
[Taipei Taoyuan International – Bangkok Suvarnabhumi]
BR 067; Boeing 777-300ER (B-16712)
Gate C6
09:00 – 11:35 [effective 09:06 – 11:40]
Business Class
Seat 06 K
I was the second passenger to board the plane and greeted at the front door of this Boeing 777-35E (ER). I was escorted to my seats, which was the last window seat in the front cabin and the flight attendant offered to hang my jacket. Blanket and pillow were placed on the seat; the headphone was placed in a case in the dedicated space at the seat.
The seat is manufactured by Sigma and similar to the one also used by Cathay Pacific and US Airways and from my point of view one of the best seats currently available in Business Class. The Sigma Aero Cirrus seats are in a staggered layout. Eva Airways does not offer a first class cabin but a Premium Economy Class cabin on its 777-300ER. Our 777-35E (ER) joined the fleet of Eva Airways on June 25, 2008 as new plane. It was equipped at this time with 36 of the old Royal Laurel seats, 71 seats in Elite Class as Eva Airways calls its Premium Economy Class on the Boeing 777 and 211 seats in Economy Class. It was in July 2013 reconfigured with 38 seats of the Sigma Aero Cirrus seats. During this refurbishment the number of seats in elite class was reduced to 63 seats while the number of Economy Class seats remained the same.
While the remaining passengers in Business and Economy Class boarded this plane, which was flying to Bangkok and then on to London, pre-departure drinks were offered. Available were water, apple juice, orange juice and – of course – Champagne. Needless to say, I took a glass of Champagne, which was poured in front of me, so I was delighted to see, that it was Veuve Clicquot and not the Champagne Castelnau Blanc de Blancs, which is usually served on regional routes.
Pre Departure Drink
Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2004
Also on the ground a flight attendant brought the printed menu for this flight, which did to my surprise not had any sort of beverage listed in it, it was just the food. So I had to ask her back, what she could offer, as she asked my for my choice of beverage after take off. She mentioned white wine, red wine, champagne, beer, soft drinks ... Anyway, I stayed with the Champagne, but found it a bit strange, as one usually cares about the vineyard and the region if choosing a wine. As far as I know, Eva Airways has a separate whine list on its long-haul flights but this was not offered on the service to Bangkok.
The safety video was shown while we were parked at the gate and during push back, which was also slightly delayed by six minutes. We had to taxi quite a bit to finally reach runway 23 R.
We passed the parked United 777 which would fly later today back to San Francisco and also a parked China Airlines 747-400F in an all white colour. This 747 freighter with registration B-18722 had an accident during a pressurization test back in 2006. Since this time it is all white but in use. It is used also on occasions when it should not be too obvious that the plane is registered with a Taiwanese Airline (Republic of China) as this might lead to problems if the country or customer has tight relantionships to the People's Republic of China. This plane has also operated flights carrying military cargo from the United States to Taiwan.
At 09:24 the captain powered the two powerful General Electrics GE90-115 B engines and we climbed into the partly cloudy sky above Taipei.
The Business Class is staggered in 1 – 2 – 1 and offers fully flat seat with a seat pitch of 81 to 87 inch and a seat width of 26 inch. They could be converted to a fully flat bed of approximately 2 metres. The seat and the cabin have a light grey-beige colour scheme which might look a bit dreary on the first look but one gets used to it and in the end it is not that bad at all. The cabin was also clean and well maintained with barely any scratches or stains. The table could be swung out from its storage space and in general there was sufficient space to store utensils one needed during the flight. A universal 110 AC power outlet is available at every seat in Royal Laurel Class. On long-haul flights, Eva Airways offers a Rimowa amenity kit and pyjamas, while the noise cancelling headphones were available on this flight.
Like its competitors, Eva Airways has the option to pre-book certain special meals between 21 days and 24 hours before your flight departs but only for selected routes. Unfortunately Taipei to Bangkok was not among those flights, on which special meals were available, but they would have been available for the onward sector from Bangkok to London (and also Amsterdam and Vienna).
Elite Class is in a 2 – 4 – 2 layout and offers a seat pitch of 38 inch and a seat width of 19.5 inch while Economy Class is in a 3 – 3 – 3 layout offering a seat pitch of 30 inch and a seat width of 18.3 inch. There are only power outlets in elite class, but not in Economy Class. There is also an amenity kit offered on longhaul flights in Elite Class and noise-canceling headseats are available.
The audio-video on demand system is the same in all three classes though the size of the screen is different.
After take-off the seat belt signs remained on for some additional time as it was a bit bumpy, but the crew went to their stations and started the service. First, the immigration forms for Bangkok were offered in addition to an invitation to use the fast track Premium Lane immigration counters. Around 20 minutes after we left TPE the tray table was laid with linen and soon later the first drinks were brought with some assorted nuts. A small plate was also offered for the nuts, which was a nice detail.
Time to look in the menu 
(click on icon - opens new window)
Aperitif
Nuts
Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2004
First Course
Hors d'oeuvre
Stuffed Egg Topped with Caviar, Marinated Prawn Pearl Loive Oil
Chateau Chantegrive Cuvee Caroline Graves 2012
Main Course
Pan Fried Salmon Fillet with Marsala Wine Brown Sauce
Buttered Mixed Vegetables Creamy Mashed Potato
Chateau Chantegrive Cuvee Caroline Graves 2012
Dessert
Fruit Sweet
Later the plates were cleared and the first course was served. This was done with the cart and serving the first course on the tray together with cutlery and napkin and also offering a first round of beverage. Again one had to ask which was available and I decided to go with the French Chateau Chantegrive Cuvee Caroline Graves 2012 instead of the German one.
The first course was quite good and the plates were cleared individually by one of the flight attendants frequently passing through the aisle. All three options of the second and main course were shown to the passengers who could then decide which to take. This was done as long as all options were available. This is also a nice way, as one could decide by actually seeing the arrangement and the food. A refill of my wine was also offered and the flight attendant had remembered which wine I had chosen and served the right one.
The tray was then cleared and the dessert was served along with the question if would like to care for a cup of coffee or tea to accompany the dessert. I cared, and so I received a cup of black coffee soon later by the flight attendant.
Overall they were attentive and friendly. They looked at the passenger while serving the meal or a beverage and were mostly smiling. The English skills were different, some flight attendants seems to speak English quite well, while I had some difficulties to understand what others were saying. But being a non native speaker myself, I partly blame this to me and my also not always right pronunciation.
Finally at 10:40 Taiwan time, the meal service was done and the tray table cleared, which I now used to work with my laptop while listening to music from the extensive list of the AVOD system.
The flight itself was sometimes a bit bumpy and the seat belt signs were turned on different occasion, but it was nothing to really worry about. The crew passed through the cabin but did not offer anything themselves, one had to ask. If they saw a empty glass or cup, they asked if one like to have a refill and brought it. They were present and if one wanted to have something, there was not really the need to use the call button or get up oneself.
Round about 50 minute ahead of our scheduled arrival time, the flight deck gave us an updated of the weather situation in Bangkok and announced the first step of our descend to begin in approximately ten minutes. The crew made shortly afterwards and announcement to those continuing to London about the procedure in Bangkok, which means leaving the plane, passing security again and returning to the gate.
We had already begun our descend for some 10 minutes or so, as the crew announced the collection of the headsets and asked all passenger to put their seat in an upright position and to stop using electronic devices. Also my jacket was given back at this time.
We passed the old airport of Bangkok, Don Muang, before we approached Bangkok on runway 01L and touched down at 11:28 local time. We had to wait on the taxiway for quite some time, close to ten minutes and no reason was given by the flight deck. To me, this is somehow annoying as I wanted to know what is going on if one is not taxiing any more, especially as we were not ahead of time. In the end, we reached our gate E 5 at 11.40, five minutes behind schedule. The second door was used and Business Class Passengers could leave the air plane first.
Members of the Bangkok staff of Eva Airways were offering transit cards to those continuing to London while I was on the long way to immigration. The Premium Lane was not very busy and I passed it quickly. The belt for the luggage of or flight was just next to the immigration checkpoint and so it was just a few steps. After ten minutes the belt began to start and my red Samsonite was number 13 to arrive ...