China Airlines
- The Cherry Blossom Dynasty -
China Airlines, Republic of China’s (Taiwan) national airline was born in late 1959, operating mainly charter flights. In the following decade the Taiwanese company launched its first regular flights on domestic routes linking Taipei to Hualien. Then China Airlines started on the international market by connecting its capital, and base city, to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in South Vietnam, then shortly after Hong-Kong and San Francisco, which was its first Trans-Pacific route. Today, the Skyteam member airline operates worldwide with 86 aircraft from the Boeing 737 for the short-haul fleet, to the A330 or A350 and the Boeing 747 to the 777 for the long-haul fleet. Today, it’s onboard the business class of flight CI161, connecting Seoul-Incheon to Taipei, that we are inviting you to come along.
SEOUL INCHEON AIRPORT
From Incheon, China Airlines operates from Terminal 1, as the majority of the airlines operating in Korea’s main airport, Terminal 2 being reserved for Korean Air and its major partners, which are none other than Air France, KLM and Delta. This terminal offers a feeling of space, modernity and especially calm as only Asian airports know how to do it. After check-in and security clearance, the airside area offers great duty-free for cosmetics, food or souvenirs.
China Airlines’s Business passengers can enjoy Korean Air’s Lounge in Terminal 2, which can be joined by shuttle train. This lounge is simply a reflection of its airport: modern, spacious, clean and very quiet; it also offers a wide opening on the tracks.
The lounge is stuffed with a restaurant, a bookstore area but also showers to be able to fly while staying fresh and clean.
CABIN REVIEW
Once in the plane, a warm atmosphere emerges, the aircraft is equipped with the latest Premium Business class developed by the Taiwanese airline.
When accessing the cabin, the corridor in front of the Sky Lounge is inevitable, it offers passengers different snacks, as instant noodles, as well as a bar or a selection of books.
In addition, the Sky Lounge is dominated by a huge mood lighting archway giving this particular atmosphere to the cabin.
Once comfortably seated, the crew immedietaly offers a refresher, followed by an oshibori. In business class, China Airlines offers 40 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration which allows couples to travel together in the center, and passengers travelling alone to occupy the seats on the window side. All seats, entertainments and even lightings controls are touch-sensitive. The seats chosen by China Airlines are none other than the Super Diamond from B/E Aerospace. The proposed pitch is 78'' for a width of 22'', so that, when the seat is placed in the full-flat position (180 degrees recline), a real bed is proposed to the passenger.
A personal lamp and a reading light, allowing them to carry out their tasks in the best possible conditions. Additionally, this living space provides business travelers with an abundance of generously sized storage compartments
For its two and a half hour flight, a pre-selected "à la carte" lunch is served. Two dishes are offered: the first one is braised pork with sauce accompanied by vegetables, and the second one is spicy chicken rice. Both dishes are of appreciable quality and are well-regarded for this level of service. To accompany the meal, a glass of champagne is served as usual, and for dessert, the Haagen-Dazs ice creams are delightfully creamy.
China Airlines' in-flight entertainment system, equipped with an 18-inch IFE (In-Flight Entertainment) screen, offers a wide selection of music, movies, documentaries, and more. Additionally, the increasingly common 3D geo-vision, by the way, is truly enjoyable and makes the older IFE systems outdated.
But also a very comfortable noise-canceling headset is provided.
The only small downside is that the reading light can be bothersome when the cabin has a dark mood lighting and when you are having a conversation with the person next to you; it can quickly strain the eyes.
By deploying such a significant aircraft like the Boeing 777 on such a short route, China Airlines offers its passengers a superior travel experience compared to what is typically found on European or American short-haul flights. It's worth mentioning that air traffic in Asia experienced a nearly 10% increase in 2016 alone, and this number continues to rise each year. The service provided by China Airlines on this route proves to be of higher quality compared to its direct competitors, thanks in large part to their new Business class.
- Thank you dear readers for your attention -