Review: Hello Kitty Ridiculousness At Taipei Airport

Review: Hello Kitty Ridiculousness At Taipei Airport

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Confession (okay, I’m not sure this is actually much of a confession, as it’s likely quite obvious): I’m a tween Asian girl at heart. At least I like most of the same things they do, including Hello Kitty.

So there’s nothing quite like the Hello Kitty experience at Taipei Airport. EVA Air operates select flights as Hello Kitty services. They pick a theme, and boy do they stick with it.

As we pulled up to the airport in our hotel shuttle we saw an EVA Air Hello Kitty shuttle — a sign of good things to come!

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Hello Kitty bus at Taipei Airport

While I’ve flown EVA Air’s Hello Kitty service before, I’ve never done so when originating in Taipei. So I saw an EVA Air representative, and asked “could you please tell me where the Hello Kitty check-in is?”

She looked at me as if I had two heads, and then pointed me in the right direction.

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Taipei Taoyuan Airport Terminal 2 check-in

At the far end of the check-in hall is the Hello Kitty check-in area. It’s just before the security checkpoint, and is sort of tough to miss.

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Taipei Taoyuan Airport Hello Kitty check-in

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Taipei Taoyuan Airport Hello Kitty check-in

I seemed to be the only person enthusiastic about this, as others were simply using the Hello Kitty check-in area as a place to sit.

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Taipei Taoyuan Airport Hello Kitty check-in

Unfortunately I had some issues with the check-in machine. When I entered my confirmation number, it gave me an error message. I was worried that maybe my flight had been swapped to a non-Hello Kitty jet. So I went to the nearby check-in counter to inquire.

“I know this probably sounds weird, but I’m on the Hello Kitty flight to Singapore and am really excited, but had a problem checking in. Can you confirm the flight is still operated by a Hello Kitty plane?”

They made some phone calls, and confirmed that it was indeed. Whew… close call.

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Taipei Taoyuan Airport Hello Kitty check-in

One of the other cool things about the Hello Kitty check-in area is that they have most of the Hello Kitty “elements” on display, like a model plane, Hello Kitty toilet paper, etc.

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Taipei Taoyuan Airport Hello Kitty themed stuff

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Taipei Taoyuan Airport Hello Kitty themed stuff

Eventually we headed to security and immigration. While the security line was really long, it moved quickly. In the end, the whole process took maybe 30 minutes.

Once through security I saw an adorable Hello Kitty house, which even had a Hello Kitty payphone.

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NOT as innocent as it looks

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Hello Kitty phone!

I approached the door with my camera, thinking it was yet another cute Hello Kitty display (like everything else at the airport). But as I approached, one of my friends points out “oh, you don’t want to do that.” As it turns out, this is actually a breastfeeding center — oops. I hadn’t seen the small sign, which is quite easy to miss.

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Hello Kitty at Taipei Airport

After that it was time to head to the pride and joy of Taoyuan Airport — the Hello Kitty gate. Taoyuan Airport actually has several themed gates, though none quite like the Hello Kitty one, which is gate C3. That’s about a five minute walk from the security checkpoint.

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Taoyuan Airport Terminal 2

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Taoyuan Airport Terminal 2

As you approach the gate you’ll see a Sanrio store, selling all the latest Hello Kitty fashions. After a brief stop for some retail therapy, I headed next door to the gate.

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Sanrio duty free at Taipei Airport

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Sanrio duty free at Taipei Airport

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Sanrio duty free at Taipei Airport

I’ll let the pictures of the Hello Kitty gate speak for themselves (because what really needs to be said?).

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Hello Kitty gate at Taipei Airport

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Hello Kitty gate at Taipei Airport

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Hello Kitty gate at Taipei Airport

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Hello Kitty gate at Taipei Airport

In addition to the gate, there are some Hello Kitty payphones and a Hello Kitty world clock.

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Hello Kitty phones and world clocks

Then there’s a Hello Kitty playground.

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Hello Kitty gate at Taipei Airport

And a Hello Kitty play area.

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Hello Kitty gate at Taipei Airport

Unfortunately my flight wasn’t leaving from the Hello Kitty gate, though. There was a flight to Manila leaving from the gate, though my flight was leaving from gate B9, about a 10 minute walk away. So after a visit to the lounges (which I’ll cover in the next installment), it was time to head to the departure gate for our 9:55AM flight to Singapore.

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Departure gate at Taoyuan Airport

The gate was located one level down from the main concourse, and was a huge area. When we arrived it was still quite empty.

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Departure gate at Taoyuan Airport

Unfortunately this gate had an obstructed view of the plane, as there was a separate arrivals hall between the gate and the outside window. As President Trump would say… SAD!

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Hello Kitty 777!!!

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Departure gate to Singapore

Hello Kitty extravaganza bottom line

I appreciate when a company picks a theme and sticks to it. And boy, I don’t think there’s a company that does that better than EVA Air. Their Hello Kitty service is a one of a kind experience.

Conversations (23)
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  1. Marisa Guest

    Youre lucky you flew, they have announced they are retiring most of the hello kitty planes . I get two more chances in a month, before its gone. totally tragic.! where's the pics inside the plane

  2. Weymar Osborne Gold

    My mom absolutely loves Hello Kitty and I was trying to see if we could fly it out of Chicago for our trip to Japan this summer. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out schedule wise but I'm saving up miles & points to fly her in business class on a Hello Kitty jet, maybe as a retirement present in a few years. Even though we've never flown on a Kitty plane, we did have a...

    My mom absolutely loves Hello Kitty and I was trying to see if we could fly it out of Chicago for our trip to Japan this summer. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out schedule wise but I'm saving up miles & points to fly her in business class on a Hello Kitty jet, maybe as a retirement present in a few years. Even though we've never flown on a Kitty plane, we did have a flight leave from the Kitty gate a few years ago and I remember how excited she was about that.

  3. William Member

    Hey Ben, I just left Dubai but when I was at the big mall there I noticed a Hello Kitty Spa and the first thing I thought of was you :p

    Have you been to it?

  4. Alexis Guest

    I smiled, sometimes giggled, while reading this post.
    ....so much about me being an AvGeek

  5. kq747 Member

    @Tony: your comment got me thinking it would be awesome to have a LOTR/Hobbit/Middle Earth themed version of all this on Air New Zealand and at AKL airport!

    @J: The clock cities are a pretty interesting mix. Pretoria being the capital makes sense and is pretty close to Joburg and they also picked Brasilia over Rio/Sao Paulo,but interestingly kept New York instead of DC and Dubai over Abu Dhabi.

  6. Dan Allen Guest

    Of course its obvious Lucky! Thats why we love you!!!

  7. George Guest

    Had a 3 hour transit in Taipei, so walked the whole airport. There must be another 12-15 theme rooms other than Hello Kitty- very impressive. Other nice things at the airport is authentic local noodle stalls and free shower in the public area, though you seem to need to being your own towel and toiletries, at least I could not figure out how to get them otherwise.

  8. Tm Guest

    I actually just bought some LifeMiles for the reason of taking this flight. I look at it as an experience, just to say I have done and seen something different.

    I am flying to Taipei and connect to Fukuoka on the apple plane. 75k miles per person.

  9. Crystal Guest

    Lucky, I am so happy that someone else other than me (that's over ten years old) still gets excited about Hello Kitty things. I would be just as excited as you! Can't wait to see the actual flight review.

    If you are ever in the Tokyo area again, you should definitely check out Sanrio Puroland! It's basically a Hello Kitty/Sanrio-themed theme park. Although I was self-conscious visiting, to be honest. I'm a small woman and...

    Lucky, I am so happy that someone else other than me (that's over ten years old) still gets excited about Hello Kitty things. I would be just as excited as you! Can't wait to see the actual flight review.

    If you are ever in the Tokyo area again, you should definitely check out Sanrio Puroland! It's basically a Hello Kitty/Sanrio-themed theme park. Although I was self-conscious visiting, to be honest. I'm a small woman and I got strange looks from the parents as I stood in line to take pictures with the characters...

  10. Jacinda Guest

    "I’m a tween Asian girl at heart"

    Hm, I'd have pegged you as a sassy black drag queen wannabe at heart...

    I'm surprised this theme is being offered by a non-Japanese airline.

  11. RR Guest

    Meow! I'd love to see this for myself.

  12. Dave Guest

    @Lauren it's just something he really likes. I'm sure you have a few things that you REALLY love and always get excited for.

  13. Kobe Bryant Guest

    @J it's one of the three Capitals of South Africa, so.... LOL

  14. Jason Guest

    "I’m a tween Asian girl at heart. At least I like most of the same things they do"

    -- such as white men... ;)

  15. Credit Guest

    You are not a fan until you wear hello kitty underwear. Post a picture of you in it and then we will believe it.

    UntIL then this is just a gimmick.

  16. J Guest

    Of all the world cities, Pretoria?

  17. Lauren Guest

    I would absolutely love to take this flight just because of the novelty of it, it seems like it would be so much fun and break up the monotony of flying.

    However I just personally don't understand the obsession with hello kitty. Ben, as a self declared fanatic could you shed some light on what is so intriguing/fascinating/cool about hello kitty? :)

  18. Turpin Caldwell Guest

    I think I walked right by you at the airport. Missed my chance for a selfie!

  19. John Member

    Growing up, my sister was obsessed with Hello Kitty. Even now that she's married and has three kids, her house still has elements of Hello Kitty. As a result of your report, I'm trying to figure out how I can take her to Asia so just she can experience the Eva Air Hello Kitty flight. I used to be a Star Alliance guy (former USAirways Chairman's Preferred). Now OW for obvious reasons. I'm so bummed...

    Growing up, my sister was obsessed with Hello Kitty. Even now that she's married and has three kids, her house still has elements of Hello Kitty. As a result of your report, I'm trying to figure out how I can take her to Asia so just she can experience the Eva Air Hello Kitty flight. I used to be a Star Alliance guy (former USAirways Chairman's Preferred). Now OW for obvious reasons. I'm so bummed that I didn't take advantage of the Life Miles promo and could've purchased miles for use on Eva. One of these days, I'll take her and I can't wait to see her reaction. It will be just precious.

    Thanks Ben for the post. Looking forward to your Singapore flight review.

  20. Paul Gold

    It's entertaining to see your love for Hello Kitty and EVA Air.

  21. Tony Guest

    Quiet nifty ! Breaks the monotony of the airport.
    It's nice that they really commit to the whole thing, not just a livery on a plane.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Marisa Guest

Youre lucky you flew, they have announced they are retiring most of the hello kitty planes . I get two more chances in a month, before its gone. totally tragic.! where's the pics inside the plane

0
Weymar Osborne Gold

My mom absolutely loves Hello Kitty and I was trying to see if we could fly it out of Chicago for our trip to Japan this summer. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out schedule wise but I'm saving up miles & points to fly her in business class on a Hello Kitty jet, maybe as a retirement present in a few years. Even though we've never flown on a Kitty plane, we did have a flight leave from the Kitty gate a few years ago and I remember how excited she was about that.

0
William Member

Hey Ben, I just left Dubai but when I was at the big mall there I noticed a Hello Kitty Spa and the first thing I thought of was you :p Have you been to it?

0
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