With the world slowly coming out of the Covid-19-induced 2-year hiatus, international business travel has restarted. Thus, with great excitement, I embark on my first ever trip to Taiwan, be it on business or on holiday. This post is, however, not about the trip, but rather about the flight experience.
My flight to Taiwan was at 12.55pm. EVA Airlines only flew to one airport in Taiwan - the one at Taipei (Taoyuan International Airport). My limo pick up was at 8.00am. Ordinarily, it would not take 2 hours to get to the KL International Airport from my house. However, given that it was the school year end vacation, better to err on the side of caution. Fortunately, the trip there was uneventful, traffic was smooth and I arrived at KLIA in time to join my fellow colleagues. It was still early, so there was ample time to get some food after the baggage drop-off.
Note to self and any other travelers. The money changer rates here are not "competitive" - better to change your currency elsewhere if you have a choice.
Apparently, the aerotrains from the main terminal to the one where our flight was were functional - but it seems they were offline for repairs for some months prior. So, I was lucky that they were working normally.
[Update 3 Mar 2023] According to the news on the FreeMalaysiaToday portal here, the aerotrains would be taken offline for an indefinite period after breaking down, leaving passengers stranded. Hmm, looks like have to test luck the next time I'm flying out of KLIA....
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| I'm leaving, on a jet plane.... 😀 |
From the waiting area at the gate, I got a clear view of our ride, a Boeing 777-300ER. EVA Airlines was a Taiwan-based airlines, set up in the 90's with it's first flight on 1 July 1991. The font and tail areas were in a bright green color, matching the theme on their website. Being a member of the Star Alliance, you could transfer miles to other alliance members as per your own strategy. Something I didn't really care for in the past, but in my current job function, will definitely have to take a closer look.
Onboard, economy-class of course, the seats were quite standard in dimension, with the typical display screen mounted in the seat in front. I got my favourite seating position next to the window. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a buzzing sound as the shutter was somewhat loose. Easily remedied by pulling it completely down. Back to the entertainment. Unfortunately, there were not many English shows to watch, as they were either dated or unheard of. I guess they catered more towards other audiences. I ended up switching off the display after looking through all the English options.
Malaysians flying to Taiwan do not require a visa, at the time of this post, though we do need to fill up the white immigration card, which is taken at the immigration counter upon arrival. As of now, there are no special Covid-19 related procedures to follow - no need to quarantine, self-test, although masks are required at all times during the flight except during meal time.
The flight was delayed by ~1/2 hour, possibly due to nasty weather conditions, as there were some spots with slight turbulence. However, most of the journey was smooth and uneventful.
The crew were polite and spoke good English + Mandarin. Blankets were not provided by default but I heard from my colleagues that you could request for one if needed. Which is a good idea, to avoid unnecessary waste of resources.
At the end of the day, I was happy with my experience on EVA Airlines, though frankly I would not take it on longer flights as there were no English shows to watch. Which is a pity, as otherwise I would have ranked this with the other airlines that I have flown on in the past. If only there were a way to find out what was on their entertainment menu in advance - as I'm really looking forward to flying on this airline again!
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