From Taipei to Singapore, I enjoyed a lovely flight in a sparsely occupied economy class cabin on board an EVA Airways 777-300ER. The flight was marked by delicious food and excellent service.
EVA Airways 777-300ER Economy Class Rating (TPE-SIN)
After missing my connecting flight in San Francisco, I had booked economy class (a “Full Y” fare) and could have used miles to upgrade to business class (30,000 United MileagePlus), but the Royal Laurel cabin was full. It turned out I was lucky because economy class was less than a third full and I had a row to myself.
Our plane was parked at a remote location. At 6:55 a.m., 45 minutes before the scheduled departure, the loading of the buses began.
We were driven to our plane in a crowded bus, with almost every passenger wearing a mask, as is culturally customary in Taiwan.
EVA-Air 225
Tapei (TPE) – Singapore (SIN)
Thursday, March 23
Departure: 7:40 am
Arrival: 12:00
Duration: 4 hours, 20 minutes
Distance: 3,219 kilometers
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER (77L)
Seat: 2G (Polaris Business Class)
On board, I walked through the Business Class and Premium Economy cabins and found my seat in row 45… the first row of Economy Class. Yes, EVA does not use row numbers, but offers very large Business Class (38 seats) and Premium Economy (64 seats) cabins.
seat
Economy Class has 221 seats divided into two sections. The seating arrangement is 3-4-3, which is standard in economy class these days (an improvement over the 3-3-3 configuration). At 17 inches wide, the seat was still comfortable enough for economy class.
Legroom varies between 78 and 84 cm, but I was assigned a seat in the emergency exit row against the bulkhead with over a meter of legroom.
Each seat has a power outlet and its own screen. My screen folds up to the side, but the seats along the bulkhead have monitors in the backrest directly in front of it.
Each seat also had a coat hook.
IFE + WiFi
EVA has been slow to introduce WiFi, but has now rolled it out across the entire fleet. While it is quite expensive (I actually had no internet access as I was doing my work in EVA Air’s “The Star” lounge), it is nice to have internet on board:
In addition, the IFE system included movies, TV shows, audio programs and games. Free disposable headphones were provided.
Duty free
EVA Air continues to offer duty-free shopping on board. Instead of a printed magazine, the selection is displayed on your screen. I tried to buy a Hello Kitty night light projector for my daughter, but unfortunately none were loaded.
Toilets
The toilet was very clean, even at the end of the flight when I used one.
I appreciated the flowers on the wall and the Green Conut amenities that you might expect in a business class restroom but not in economy class (hand wash, body cream, aroma mist, scented disinfectant gel).
Food + Drink
Breakfast was served after takeoff. Although there were no printed menus, our choices were displayed on the in-flight entertainment screen:
At the beginning, the flight attendants offered each passenger a choice of water, orange juice or apple juice:
The main courses available were:
Fried rice with egg
with chicken and vegetables (529kcal)or
Creamy mushrooms and seafood
served with spaghetti (475kcal)
I loved that the menu description even included the number of calories.
I chose the second option, hoping it would taste like my seafood dish at Royal Brunei years ago.
The food was served on a tray, the main course was covered. It consisted of a (simple) yoghurt starter, sliced fruit (apple, orange) and a white bread roll.
When I unpacked it, I found an appealing pasta course with scallops, white fish and shrimp.
Metal cutlery was used, which is always appreciated.
It was a very satisfying breakfast…as you can see. The pasta sauce was creamy and the seafood was tasty.
I should have skipped the coffee though. Coffee isn’t supposed to be transparent. I now know that I have to order tea from EVA…
Before landing I was offered a drink, but I skipped it.
service
I really appreciated the service on this flight. Yes, I admit, it was nice to be served by a cabin full of beautiful women. But looks can be deceiving. However, the cabin crew on this flight were very friendly, attentive and warm. Although I appreciate the more relaxed and friendly atmosphere on US airlines, the ladies working in the economy class cabin on this flight were efficient, polite and professional.
DIPLOMA
We landed in Singapore earlier than planned, so I had some time in the lounge before my connecting flight with Singapore Airlines to Siem Reap. I really enjoyed this flight, although the very empty cabin obviously made it even more pleasant. Even if the flight had been fuller, I would still have given it high marks for the excellent service, comfortable seats and great food on board.
Well done, EVA Air!
