Review: China Airlines Premium Business Class A350 (TPE-LHR)

Taiwan was never really on my radar to visit around the world. However after the inagural Delta A330neo flight to Taipei and the time that I've spent there, I am a changed man. I enjoyed the people and the sights around the country, however I could have done without the intense humidity.

As I was building this trip off the inagural flight to Taipei I found some award availability to keep my trip going west and make this an around-the-world flight.

Booking

For what I consider the sweet spot for Delta SkyMiles, you can redeem 80,000 miles for business class from Asia to Europe. This trip was from Taipei to Amsterdam with a connection in London, where the TPE-LHR was on a China Airlines A350-900 and the LHR-AMS leg was on a KLM E195-E2.

There was two choices for the connection, a flight leaving at 6PM and another leaving at 8:55PM. I chose the longer connection as the last time I tried connecting in London, it ended up taking over 2 hours.

Check-in

Boarding

Arriving in the gate area about an hour before departure time resulted in a delayed boarding. It seemed like the ground operations were taking longer than usual and they were still loading catering and cargo on the flight.

Despite the late boarding we only ended up leaving the gate 30 mins late and still arriving right about on time in London. With padded airline schedules, any delay under an hour really isn't a problem.

The Seat

China Airlines uses a reverse heringbone seat in a 1-2-1 configuration. The dark colors with spashes of natural wood accents and gold highlights really makes the cabin feel different than most other airlines that use brighter cabins with lighter colors.

I really do appercciate the color choices that China Airlines used for their aircraft and the whole business class cabin felt open and airy. With no luggage bins in the center of the cabin it makes for large cathederal ceilings.

Each seat had a large pillow, and bedding that included a duvet and seat topper. And the middle seats have a divider that can be raised if you don't wish to see your partner.

Flight Route

This flight takes quite the unique route, instead of a more northly route to follow the great circle distance, it takes a southern route over Hong Kong, India, and up over Turkiye. This is likely due to political issues between Tiawan and China.

As you can see below, that is the more direct route to London to fly over China and Russia that China Airlines does not take.

Menu

During boarding a menu was handed out with the lunch and breakfast options for the flight. However, China Airlines does have a pre-select option that I took advantage of.

Service

Service started as soon as we stepped onboard. The crew in the business class was attentive to bring you a juice and warm towel upon boarding and even went as far as to greet you by name as they came up to welcome you onboard.

It was quite the beautiful day for departure with high clouds and clear visibility. We had to wait for about 10 minutes at the end of the runway for a departure slot to the west. But in no time we were in the air and on the massive 15+ hour journey across Asia and Europe.

About 30 minutes after departure while we were leveling off in cruise the crew began service with some prepackaged dried fruit and nut mixture with a beverage.

About one hour after departure the starter showed up, which consisted of a salad, bread and the fresh Abalone with a fruit jelly on the side. While Abalone is not my favourite it tasted fresh and prepared well.

Next came out the soup which was the Hearts of Palm Chicken Soup with Scalops. This was probably the most disappointing part of the meal consisting of mostly broth and just a few pieces of chicken. While it was another light course before the main meal, it felt underwhelming.

After all the starters, the mains finally came. I chose the western option of a Filet Migon with baked potatoes and cheese. The filet was cooked perfectly and still juicy with a slight amount of pink. It wasn't over done nor was it too chewy. On the side was soem fresh veggies to go along with your meal and some more bread.

But wait we're not done, dessert was followed up with a cheese plate and ice cream. I must say, that you will not go hungry if you fly business class on China Airlines.

Between service the flight attendants were in the asiles every 15-20 minutes offering drink refills and cleaning up after the service. This is when I took some time to get some sleep. Due to the length of flight an the time when you arrive into London, it's wroth it to try to get a full rest to acclimate your body.

I managed to get a good 6 hours of sleep in before waking up just west of the Black Sea. It was around this time that breakfast service started. It was not as extensive as the dinner service but they certainly offered a good food selection.

Breakfast was a selection of pasteries, quiche, a round egg omlet, and some mini pancakes with bacon. On the side there was more selection of fruit and yougrt. Again, a very filling meal and I felt like I needed another nap after eating so much food.

Wifi

For some select flights and classes of service, China Airlines offers free wifi. As a business class customer, you are entitled to free wifi. It was decently fast but it was really only good for light browsing and sending emails back and forth.

Final Thoughts

I was pleasantly suprised with the small Taiwanese airline at the level of service and and attention to detail their crews showed. It's always a good sign when the crew calls you by name and you don't have to wait too long for something.

For those traveling to Tiawan, they might be the hidden gem of a good airline.