blondee_yvr

Hello everyone,

I am curious on a few things. My spouse and I are flying Elite Class on the older 373 passenger EVA 747-400 jet. Unfortunately, the newer 333 seat, 777 doesn't fly to and from YVR to TPE.

Neither of us have flown internationally for a very long time. Oddly, the 747s in this route don't have wifi, yet the Seattle. San Francisco or Los Angeles routes do. And EVA is flying the newer 777's from these gateways. Yet they don't want Vancouver to have newer planes and more comfortable amenities. Go figure.

My first question is about meals. If one orders a special meal eg. diabetic meal. Is this meal the exact prepared meal as economy class? Someone said this is usually the case or do they up it a notch because of the seating class. Also, are food and alcohol drinks included and is it just one "refill"?

The other question is about actual tech options with the seat in terms of USB ports and charging. I know with 777s they come with an AC adapter and USB Charging. I can't find any information on EVA's website to state what amenities are on the 747-400.

If someone has flown EVA's 747-400 and could shed some light, I would be appreciate it.

Thanks

hayzel7773

YVR is getting the 353 seating 777(10 abreast though) in July. They do have charging ports on the old seats. I forgot about USB ports though. The Elite seats on the 747 were the exact same to the old Elite seats on the 777 they are currently retrofitting out of.
Meal wise, the main is the same for all cabins for special meals. However, the sides are different. The Elite meal tray is basically 1 "appetizer", 1 "salad"(larger rectangle dishes), fruit, and dessert(small square type dishes or Ice Cream) along with a roll and the main. Drinks wise, you can ask for as many drinks as you want, they will be happy to provide it. Both alcohol and food are FOC and they have two meals in addition to a sandwich they give out in the middle of the flight to those that request it or if they notice you are up. They will do multiple drink runs with Water, OJ, and Apple Juice but when they come by, you can request alcoholic drinks and they will bring it to you. You can also use the call button, they are quick to respond to that.

blondee_yvr

Thank you so much hayzel7773! Flyers from YVR will look forward to the 777s in the summer. Looks like we will miss out as we plan to travel before then.

In respect to meals. My spouse still prefers a speciality meal based on dietary needs. I say, "indulge a bit". . Are all the non speciality (regular) meals the same in each category as well?

hayzel7773

No. Regular meals vary by cabin. For elite, there is always an option of congee(porridge) at breakfast though. There are normally two choices of main course for both meals. They do change every month though!

blondee_yvr

Once again, thank you!

mith

I was wondering why Eva and CI planes still (kind of) avoid Chinese airspace. Looking at the flightradar, westbound traffic from TPE still goes northeast first via Korea into Russia and then West via Siberia. Planes from Europe go the Southern way via Georgia-Afganisthan-India - but still seem to fly via Tibet and Southern China. Is there a specific arrangement that they can use (only) this corridor in the South but for Westbound flights they may not use the direct route via Northern China? Now that both PR and ROC airlines can serve each others airports, I don't understand the current situation.

bzcat

Flights between Taiwan and China has to pass thru either Hong Kong or Okinawa air traffic control sector so even direct flights has to make a detour. Commercial flights except for those heading to Kinmen and Matsu do not cross the center line of Taiwan Strait.

If you are making a detour to go north towards Okinawa, you might as well take the northern route to Europe via Korea.

Similarly, if you are taking a detour towards Hong Kong, you might as well take the southern route via Indochina.

One of the things people don't understand is that flying across China won't necessarily save time because of the initial detour, and the tightly restricted air space in China. You don't just file a great circle flight plan and fly it... In order for CI or BR (and any other airlines) to transit Chinese air space from TPE to Europe, the plane has to fly south first to enter Chinese airspace from HK air traffic control sector, then follow a zig zag course through China to Kazakhstan or Mongolia/Russia. See KLM808: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/K...620Z/RCTP/EHAM

On the the return leg, CI and BR flights can enter Chinese airspace from Central Asia directly so there is no problem transiting. But they use the southern route so they can pass thru HK air traffic control sector before entering TPE control. It will be a waste of time to fly the great circle route via Western China only to have to turn south and zig zag thru Eastern China's congested air routes to HK and then turn north to TPE.

Kevin Liu

last OCT, CI hinted they will open a new north America route
anyone has further insight yet ?

hayzel7773

No they are very quiet right now. The only thing they have announced is a new afternoon routing to SFO 4 times a week. Also, the reservation for the New York flights is all bonkers and they are now maintaining 5x a week instead of the previously planned 7x increase.

Kevin Liu

anyone has any insight of upcoming aircraft purchase for CI?

tris06

Your thoughts on this article?

https://centreforaviation.com/analys...-europe-325070

China Airlines deploys A350 to grow in North America but risks over-expansion in Europe
7-Mar-2017

"China Airlines has sat out on long haul growth over the last decade and is now looking to reinvigorate its position, making wins against local rival EVA Air, which has quietly but spectacularly grown. EVA, however, now faces uncertainty with new owners that may favour conservative expansion, which could benefit China Airlines. But China Airlines remains in a difficult position, one where it is under too much influence from its government owners, has an undefined vision, and lacks having aircraft on order.

China Airlines has received four A350s, with another 10 due by the end of 2018. China Airlines will have twice as many A350 flights to North America as to Europe – the market it originally envisaged for the A350.

European A350 growth could expand as China Airlines plans to resume London in Jun-2017. China Airlines could also consider a new service to Paris. Europe risks long term overcapacity, however, and this is not a strong market for Taiwan. Growth options are limited to North America, where China Airlines needs longer range aircraft but does not have any more 777-300ERs on order. [2044 words].."


Well firstly I am surprised they said June 2017 for London flights to begin... Let me know as I am going to travel to UK in that month plus my parents 2 months later. I really doubt they would announce a start to flights only a few months ahead.

I do agree about the lack of aircraft on order. But they did forget to mention the 6 options of A350 plus I bet they could get some additional slots around the 2020-2021 for more A350 if they wanted.

I disagree with Europe expansion issues if anything CI has reduced flights plus the A350 is pretty small. Plus while they will want to win over European customers wanting to travel to Taiwan (Surely in the hundreds per day) they would also win over most passengers from Taiwan going to Europe.

Sure I believe the thought of this article is ME3 carriers but North East Asian people absolutely hate having to connect at a 3rd airport. And Direct connections win overall.

Also forgetting Australian destinations are doing quite well (NZ not soo much). NA yes has some potential expansion but not the only possibility.

The issue to LHR was plane efficiency loads were fine but using an A340 was not economical against say a B777 or A380 at the time.

All east Asian carriers for the most part are sending mid sized 787-777's (I know not so small) to Europe as the efficiency and smaller capacity will allow them fill the plane most of the time.

Also people also forget the further north you are in Asia the less of an advantage ME3 have as your having to go far far south before coming back up to Europe. Flying around the equator is far from ideal if you have the choice. South East Asia is a different story in this case.

Like to hear others thoughts....

Kevin Liu

I don't think London is happening until the end of year and I've no clue where did Jun come from.

Even CI decide to go for all 6 options, I still believe they need more airplanes for growth. At the same time this might be risky too if they don't plan out the cash flow carefully. They claim they will finalize the narrow body order by Jul and they seemed to suggest the order is going to be roughly 50. In the mean time, they need to start another order to replace their regional widebodies (A330) around 2022 for the latest. Unless the gap is going to be filled by A350, they might want to start earlier than 2022 since they need to start return all 4 leased A330 starting next year. I would say cash flow is going to be the key for more order. Of course, leasing is always an option.

The CDG expansion is actually going to be a codeshare flight operated by AF. I guess they might use either A330 or 787 IMHO. This itself is actually reducing risk on China Airline side which is a good news. Also, the statistical data from last year showed the EU destionations have pretty good load factor CDG: 81.6% of 131,648 seats; FRA: 83.4% of 195,531; VIE: 87.3% of 92,482; AMS: 89.9% of 272,348. I would say there are certainly potentials for growth.

EK is the only ME3 flies to TPE and they fly with A380 which is pretty crazy. Load factor from last year was 80.6% out of 267,310.

In NA, I think the biggest strength CI has compare to BR is they have connecting traffic from VX (suppose AS soon as well ?) and DL. Given the current asia situation with DL, CI is getting more partnership with DL. If they can work out something that will certainly boost NA traffic significantly. Both BOS and SEA seemed to fit in DL's model pretty well. (btw I'm really disappointing that DL is moving their hub to ICN)

tris06

Yes they will need to order more A350's.
The narrow-body order is not 50 anymore. Its been reduced to around 30 aircraft due to Mainland China relations recently.

Getting the A330neo would be pretty short waiting time and quite cheap.

So I think they could order up to 12 A350's (including the 6 options) That should be enough to do some sizable expansion.

I wonder if they will renew the A330's on lease as they definitely will be short and it would be silly flying many A350's on many of their short haul flights.

First refurbished A330 should be ready soon. That should give the planes a good 6/7yrs of additional life with an acceptable cabin.

Kevin Liu

I don't think the quantity is going to reduce down to 30. Keep in mind that this purchase includes the planes for Tigerair and Mandarin air. Also, they seemed to plan on SE Asia route expansion and I don't think 30 will be enough though. We might see some more insight by May.

Quite cheap ? The list price is 250-290M while A359 is 311M. For the A333 equivalent neo option is almost as expensive as A359 already .... Of course, that's only the list price we are talking about and perhaps AB will bring a more favorable price to getCI to buy A330 neo instead of 787. Regardless, there are 210 on the book already so I don't think the slots come that easy thought, but we'll see. Obviously, the 787 slots will be even more challenging.....

They will return the 4 leased plane with contract start to expire next year. This is pretty obvious since those planes are not part of cabin refurbish plan.

I think 6-7 yrs is going to be the maximum lifetime those planes have. The oldest one was delivered back in 2004 and CAA typically regulates airplanes that are 20 yrs older with stricter rules. CI typically park their airplanes around 20 yrs old to avoid those tighter restrictions.

tris06

From what i recently read. That the A330neo they will be more likely to offer larger discounts from the listed prices (Up to 60% off). Where the A350 will have smaller discounts being the high tech option.