EVA Air Introduces New 787 Business Class

I like the partition that can slide out between the 2 center seats (same as the ones on the Qantas 787-9, though that partition slides up, not out).

Also interesting that window seats further from the aisle also have a partition screen that slides out.

It's Taiwan, Mr. clueless.

@debit pretty sure he meant the airport/city that is there hub(and pretty sure you already know it and just trying to make noise...)

What is the range of the 787-9? Could it potentially be introduced on say the JFK route? I flew them YYZ-TPE-BKK this year in J and loved the product. Now scheduled to fly them next year JFK-TPE-BKK in February. Would love to compare the two products and just curious if it is even possible I might get lucky with an equipment change to the 787 on the long haul flight.

@Lucky, EVA Air is a Taiwan based airline. This time I have to agree with @debit unfortunately. EVA Air does not have its headquarters even in Taipei, instead, it is located in Taoyuan, another region of Taiwan. Please correct it!

@sagiereder, how many Taipei-based airlines are there? When lucky says, "This will be the first 787 to be flown by a Taipei-based airline", isn't it obvious he is politically influenced?

@TBH
For 787-9 range, wiki says 7,635 nautical miles, which is around 8,800 miles. That's enough to fly to Miami (8,650 miles) from EVA's TPE hub

@no name
There's also China Airlines in Taiwan, but they don't fly the 787

Why is there an absolutely MASSIVE gap between the window seats and the actual windows? It looks like there is space to make the seat wider, or install a small table, but it just a wasted big gap?! Also, why all the Apple product placements?

@Lucky, do you know what routes will the 787-10 be?

I like the color scheme and the 787 is a great plane. They have a new interior on their A330s as well - using the same seats as Lufthansa's biz class, with a similar dark green color palette. I wish they'd update the seats on the 777s with the new color scheme - it looks fantastic!

Lucky, I am originally from Taiwan, please don't worry about "correcting" EVA's base from Taipei to whatever.

It's depressing people nitpicking tiny little things in an already depressed environment.

I would say Asiana and Korean Air are Seoul-based airlines (even though Seoul Incheon airport is not literally in Seoul)... OMAAT is not a place for political paranoid... stay away...

Agree with @ktc... My parents were from Taiwan and I was born and raised in Singapore. I don’t know why recently Taiwanese are so sensitive to political trifles... We are here as avgeeks, not politicians... It’s stupid to accuse Lucky “communist” for just saying “Taipei-based”...What the hell wrong with these guys.

I have to disagree with @ktc. I’m from Taiwan as well and just to let you know, there are people who DO mind. I’ve been a loyal subscriber and follow your review and suggestions religiously. An independent reviewer like yourself should not be politically biased. EVA HQ is not in Taipei; it is in Taiyuan county, one of the counties in Northern Taiwan.

Yea I agree with everyone who says Lucky doesn't need to be PC. Blogging isn't journalism, it's opinion. If you don't like it, go to a different website.

You simply can’t expect a German American who’s in his early 20s to make sure every piece of s**t crystally accurate all the time, especially for vague/debating topics. If anyone is interested in arguing the difference between Taipei-based and Taiwan-based, or expressing how much Taiwanese want the world to recognize their existence, go somewhere else. People come to this site specifically want to discuss aviation stuff. Don’t you remember how many times Lucky had mentioned that he didn’t want to talk anything political? Gosh.

For those saying EVA is based in Taoyuan, not Taipei, that's true. But Taipei's main international airport is also in Taoyuan, so this is sort of like insisting criticizing someone for describing Air France as a Paris-based airline because CDG is actually in Roissy-en-France.

@david, yes but no one will say Air France is a Paris-based airline. That sounds ridiculous. People simply say Air France is a French airline.

#freeTaiwan

Getting back on topic, I think the Vantage XL is a downgrade. On 787s, the reverse herringbone seats are noticeably less spacious than on 777s, but they're definitely better than Vantage XL. With the Vantage, there's just too much variance between the best and worst seats; even though EVA's version seems to have a decent amount of privacy, I'd still hate to be stuck in an exposed "aisle" seat. IIRC, both products would allow for the same number of seats, so I wonder why they didn't go with the reverse herringbone to keep their product consistent. :-\

Is there also a possibility that EVA will use Songshan to serve some of these routes? (ANA serves that airport, IIRC, with their 787).

i guess that could also throw a twist into the Taiwan-Taipei call-out issue as well.. 😉

Taiwan-based. Shame on you to choose the word that Communist media uses!

Taipei-based is correct. The PRC will always emerge victorious on these matters, and I for one am happy to see that Lucky has chosen the correct side of history.

All this Taiwan vs Taipei argument, but you guys are missing the real important question

WILL IT HAVE HELLO KITTY LIVERY?!?!?!?!?

Lucky, why are your readers/followers so bitter and angry? I like your reviews. Taipei, Taiwan.....tomatoe, tomato. Keep up the good work. They are the trolls trolling!

Let's settle with ROC based airline.

@Singapura that's why people have so many comments on Singaporean.

I am from Taiwan and I’m offended by this article.

@Singapura You don’t think it’s a big deal probably because:

1. You do not have the national identity of being Taiwanese as you’re technically a Singaporean.
2. You do not have hundreds of missiles aiming at your backyard all the time.
3. Your country is not blocked from attending important international conferences/events/sports games unless you agree to attend under he name “Chinese Taipei”.

Last, but not least:
4. You probably have never experienced true democracy.

This is absolutely the best way to get to China. Taipei is a great destination for those wanting to experience the benefits of China without the downsides.

Also, I agree with the other commenters. What is the problem with him siding with the communist regime in China? He's allowed to have his own opinion! He flies with his kid to these places to review them and you people do nothing but complain 🙁

You people don't understand. Who wants to associated with mainlanders? Majority of them are boisterous, rude, fight and spit in public, shove and elbow you to cut in line, and have generally no sense of personal space.
If you want to support mainland China go fly one of their airlines like China eastern or China southern instead. Leave the more refined airlines like Cathay Pacific, Eva, China Airlines, and Hong Kong airlines to the non communists.

@Joe
Who do you think owns Hong Kong Airlines?

Joe HK Airlines is owned by HNA ie communists. CX is partially owned by communists (Air China)

Good point Matt and David, haha. Obviously, Joe is the uneducated one here. He forgot to mention the rudeness of basically every ethnicity in the world. There is rudeness everywhere in the world. A couple of times, I saw a bunch of Italians being loud and obnoxious on the subways. They acted like everyone around them was beneath them. Oh, they were also drunk because they were drinking alcohol in public.

By the way, this is Lucky and OMAAT. The boss and his fellow teammates can write how they feel and want. It is their articles. If you have a problem, make your own blog. People know what Lucky meant.

Just like HK and Macau: he should say HK, HK or Macau, Macau based airline? Are these two places just cities or do you think they are regions? Would you feel better if Lucky says Taipei-Taiwan based airline? HK and Macau are part of the PRC, so should Lucky and his team refer HK Airlines, Air Macau, CX, and Cathay Dragon as Chinese airlines, Chinese-based airlines , or China-based airlines? At the end of the day, just read and enjoy what Lucky and his wonderful team writes on this blog. If you want to get political, find a way to vote Trump out of office in 2020.

@Nanbowan
Jeez...
Taiwan has lost almost everything expect the pathetic “democracy pride”...

No wonder why these days China’s reputation and influence are beating those of Taiwan. I’m so disappointed by you guys. If you really want to make your homeland a better place, stand up and start building instead of fighting bullshit with your keyboard.

@Nanbowan
Jeez…
Taiwan has lost almost everything except the pathetic “democracy pride”…

No wonder why these days China’s reputation and influence are beating those of Taiwan. Especially in Singapore the government chose Simplied Chinese rather than Traditional Chinese. I have lots of classmates and coworkers here from China and they are really talented and becoming the mainstays of the society.

I’m so disappointed by you guys. If you really want to make your homeland a better place, stand up and start building instead of fighting bullshit with your keyboard.

Btw. Singaporean citizens here are extremely happy with the dictatoriship of the government. We are countries with the highest score of happiness in the world.

Also what I found interesting is that so many competent and talented younger Taiwanese generations ran away from Taiwan to make money and even choose stay in China (mostly) and Singapore (some) to “seek better lives”, simply because they can make more money and achieve higher life goals... sad.

Looks decent, nothing exceptional, but solid.

@China’s reputation and influence are beating those of Taiwan

Well, China is a rich belligerent bully. Great reputation and influence.

@Darren "You simply can’t expect a German American who’s in his early 20s..."

Ben is closer to 30 than 20...

This leaves GA as the ONLY full-service airline in eastern Asia (except PR China) to operate neither the A350 nor the 787.
Bangkok Airways and Lao Airlines don't count as they don't operate widebodies.

Everyone knows that America is the biggest bully hence the nickname “world police.” Haha. I thought we all knew that the world’s biggest bully title is bestowed upon Trump.

Hi Ben, so EVA's 787 fleet won't feature elite class/premium economy?

Don't see any mention of Premium Economy. If EVA decided to eliminate that class from their 787 fleet, that's a mistake. Many businesses do not allow cost of Business Class, but will approve Premium Economy, especially for long flights. This simply means many customers who want extra room will be forced to pick non-EVA flights if those routes use EVA's 787. Hopefully, EVA does put Premium Economy on some of their 787s.

Seating will be for sure significant downgrade compare to the current 777. What is even more surprising to me is EVA Air apparently decided to skip Premium Eco on 787 fleet, and go back to two-class config only. Makes to me no sense at all and is definitely a great mistake.