EVA Air will fly its new 787s to Amsterdam and Vienna next year

In September this year we covered the launch of Taiwanese carrier EVA Air’s new Business Class seats on its latest 787 aircraft. This product marked a switch from the Star Alliance carrier’s existing ‘reverse herringbone’ format seating, in favour of the all forward-facing Thompson Aero Seating Vantage XL, used by airlines like Qantas.

EVA has been using the aircraft on flights from Taiwan to Hong Kong since the beginning of this month, with Tokyo and Osaka to follow in December. It has just announced the first long-haul services with the type on the Taipei – Bangkok – Vienna and Taipei – Vienna routes from mid-May 2019, with Taipei – Bangkok – Amsterdam following in June 2019.

EVA’s Boeing 787s

EVA has ordered four Boeing 787-9s, which have the range to fly to Europe, and 20 787-10s, which max out at around 9 to 10 hours flying time and will be used to serve high density regional routes in Asia-Pacific.

The first aircraft was delivered in early October 2018.

The configuration of the EVA Air 787-9 is 26 Business Class and 278 in Economy. While the configuration of the carrier’s 787-10 wasn’t known when we published our cabin reveal article in September, we predicted it would be very close to the Singapore Airlines configuration of 36 Business Class and 301 Economy Class seats.

Indeed it has come in almost spot on, at 34J / 308Y.

New Business Class

The big news with the introduction of the EVA Air Boeing 787s is the brand new Business Class product, with a staggered 1-2-1 layout comprising 26 flat-bed seats on the 787-9 and 34 flat-bed seats on the upcoming 787-10.

While EVA’s Business Class seats on the carrier’s existing Boeing 777-300ERs already feature a 1-2-1 all aisle access layout, the new product is a departure from the ‘reverse herringbone’ format with these Thompson Vantage XL seats all configured in line with the aircraft fuselage.

Well above the basic spec for the Thompson Vantage XL seat, EVA Air worked with BMW Designworks (the same company responsible for SIA’s 2013 F cabin) on the customisation, materials and colour scheme.

EVA has included options such as extended consoles with additional storage (between the middle seat pairs and at the aisle-aligned window seats), adjustable privacy panels between the middle seat pairs (and at window seats with the console between the seat and the aisle) and seat number light / do not disturb function.

Each seat is 23 in. (58.4 cm) wide and converts to a 76 in. (193 cm) long flat-bed. The seat pitch has not been stated but we understand it to be 44 in. (111.8cm). This enables the airline to install seven rows of window seats and six middle pairs in the forward cabin section of the 787-9, with nine window rows and eight middle pairs in the larger 787-10.

Seat map

Here is the layout of the EVA Air 787-9 Business Class cabin.

If you’re looking to secure the most private window seats, where the console is between the seat and the aisle and an additional extendable privacy screen is installed to really shield you from the world, there are only six options for you.

These are 2A/K, 5A/K and 7A/K.

If you’re travelling solo in this cabin, these would definitely be our top recommendations.

Otherwise if those seats are taken individual travellers will likely want to go for one of the aisle-aligned window seats 1A/K, 3A/K, 6A/K or 8A/K, while couples will naturally gravitate to any of the middle D/G seat pairs.

Dividers between the D and G middle seats should also provide adequate privacy if you are sitting here when travelling by yourself.

Do note that row 8 is directly ahead of the toilets and a galley area and may therefore suffer from increased noise and foot traffic. It’s probably best to aim for the forward section of this cabin on an overnight flight.

The Boeing 787-10 seat map has not yet been published but is likely to be very similar, with two additional rows.

Schedules

EVA Air will commence long-haul flights with the Boeing 787-9 aircraft in May 2019. The following flight schedules apply, and also include the shorter sectors of the long-haul journey between Taipei and Bangkok.

Taipei – Bangkok – Taipei

From 9th May 2019 (BR61) / 11th May 2019 (BR62)
From 9th July 2019 (BR75) / 10th July 2019 (BR76)

* Next day

Note that several other EVA Air flights operate on the Taipei – Bangkok – Taipei route using different aircraft (including the 777-300ER). For simplicity, only the 787-9 flights are shown here, for those interested in trying the new product.

Bangkok – Vienna – Bangkok

From 10th May 2019

* Next day

Taipei – Vienna – Taipei

From 10th May 2019 (BR65) / 11th May 2019 (BR66)

* Next day

Bangkok – Amsterdam – Bangkok

From 9th July 2019

* Next day

Premium Economy

If you’re a fan of EVA Air’s Premium Economy cabin, laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration on the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, it’s bad news with these flights being replaced by the 787-9 as there will be no Premium Economy cabin fitted on these new aircraft.

Indeed if you’re a regular in this cabin between Singapore and Taipei on the 777-300ER you may not keep the opportunity much longer – we see the 787-10 with the same Business Class capacity as the 777-300ER but a larger Economy Class cabin as EVA’s ideal aircraft for this route.

Removing Premium Economy from a route it’s unlikely to be popular on (SIA doesn’t fly this cabin to Taipei), and at the same time introducing an aircraft with lower operating costs, make it a very likely choice sometime next year once the 787-10s start arriving in the EVA fleet.

Redemption rates

Let’s look first at the ‘cheap’ redemptions on these new 787 flights – the short hop between Bangkok and Taipei, or vice-versa.

EVA Air redemption Bangkok – Taipei
FFP used	Economy	Business
	15,000	37,500
	20,000	35,000
	20,000	35,000
	20,000	35,000
	20,000	45,000
	20,000	36,000

As you can see EVA’s own scheme is the best here in Business Class at 35,000 miles for the three and a half hour flight, matched by Turkish and Lufthansa. Not a great rate for a sector this long. Lifemiles comes in at 36,000 miles followed by KrisFlyer at 37,500 and you certainly don’t want to be wasting 45,000 United MileagePlus miles on this flight in our opinion!

Here are the rates for the longer sectors between Bangkok and either Vienna or Amsterdam.

EVA Air redemption Bangkok – AMS / VIE
FFP used	Economy	Business
	45,000	85,000
	52,500	80,000
	40,000	67,500
	30,000	45,000
	45,000	100,000
	55,000	78,000

Here Turkish Miles&Smiles is the clear winner at 45,000 miles each way, with Lufthansa Miles & More at 67,500 miles and Lifemiles at 78,000 miles also strong contenders compared to some of the other schemes like KrisFlyer.

Remember with most frequent flyer programs you can also add connections at both ends of these routes and pay the same miles rate, provided you start and end your journey in the same ‘zones’.

With KrisFlyer for example you can fly Singapore Airlines or Thai from Singapore to Bangkok in Business Class, then connect with EVA Air to Vienna in Business, then Austrian to another European city in Business, all for 85,000 KrisFlyer miles. That’s provided you can find availability of course, and do note taxes and fees will be higher the more flights you add.

Finally the longest routing is from Taipei to Vienna non-stop, and vice-versa. Here are the miles rates.

EVA Air redemption Taipei – Vienna
FFP used	Economy	Business
	50,000	95,000
	52,500	90,000
	40,000	67,500
	30,000	45,000
	45,000	75,000
	45,000	75,000

Turkish Miles&Smiles offers the best value here, followed by Lufthansa Miles & More – the same mileage rate in both cases as applies for the shorter Bangkok – Vienna routing.

Also Lifemiles and United get more interesting. It will set you back fewer of these frequent flyer currencies to fly the much longer 13-hour non-stop flight from Taipei to Vienna in Business Class than it will from Bangkok to Vienna.

Alternatively on the days of the week a non-stop service isn’t offered – board the plane in Taipei for a three and a half hour trip to Bangkok, then continue from Bangkok on the same flight, again for the same lower miles rate.

KrisFlyer want 95,000 miles from you for the same routing.

EVA Air Bangkok lounge

The only dedicated EVA Air lounge facility outside Taiwan operates at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport, and we did a full review back in November last year.

The decor is on the ‘funky’ side, which may or may not be to your taste, however we rated the food selection better than the nearby Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounge, there are views outside over the aircraft gates across an entire side of the lounge, and unlike the SilverKris facility showers are available here.

Click here to read our review of the EVA Air lounge Bangkok

Of course as a Star Alliance passenger flying Business Class, you are also free to use the Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounge in Bangkok, or both Singapore and EVA on the same trip if you prefer, assuming you have time.

We preferred the EVA lounge for the views, the food and the shower facilities, while the SilverKris lounge boasts a manned bar and better wines.

Click here to read our review of the SIA SilverKris Lounge Bangkok

Economy Class

If you’re interested in the Economy Class cabin on these new aircraft, you’ll find the relatively standard 3-3-3 layout on EVA’s 787s.

The seats themselves are by RECARO and feature adjustable leather headrests, customised neck support and a 12-inch HD touchscreen IFE system.

Summary

It’s great to see EVA Air rolling out this new Business Class seat on long-haul flights, especially as that gives us Singapore-based KrisFlyer members a couple of opportunities to experience it to Europe next summer, albeit from Bangkok or Taipei.

Remember you can already find this product flying selected EVA Air flights between Taipei and Hong Kong, with Tokyo and Osaka to follow next month.

Will you be trying to secure a seat on EVA Air’s new Business Class next year? Let us know in the comments section below.

(Cover Photo: EVA Airways Corporation)