Review: EVA Air Boeing 787-10 Business Class Royal Laurel (TSA-HND)
TSA-HND
BR 192
Depart: 7:15AM
Arrive: 11:10AM
Duration: 2 hours 50 minutes
Seat: 2K
After spending 4 nights in Taiwan, I checked out of the Kimpton Da An for an early flight to Yokohama. Because I’m staying in Yokohama after Taipei, I rather land in Haneda than Narita, which is why I’m flying from Taipei’s Shongshan Airport (TSA). TPE only flies to NRT, so it’s one thing to keep in mind if you have a Taiwan and Japan combo travel itinerary.
EVA Air Boeing 787-10 Royal Laurel- Booking
I spent 20,000 Aeroplan miles after transferring the same amount of American Express Membership Rewards. Buying cash for this flight would cost around $800, so it’s a pretty good deal since even Economy Class would at least cost around $300.
EVA Air Boeing 787-10 Royal Laurel- Boarding
I took an Uber from the Kimpton at 5am. Since Taipei’s metro (MRT) begins operation at 6am, I had no choice but to take a taxi. Otherwise, TSA is well-connected with the Wenhu Line (Brown Line).
Fortunately, there’s no fixed price going into TSA with Uber, unlike TPE where the price appear to be fixed at 1200 NTD (~$37) no matter from where inside Taipei. The price going into TSA was only 217 NTD or ~$7.
After checking in and passing through security, I headed to the VIP Lounge to wait for the start of boarding.
EVA Air Boeing 787-10 Royal Laurel- Seat
The seat configuration on EVA Air’s Business Class in the Boeing 787-10 is 1-2-1. The even-numbered rows on the single seats have the seats closer to the windows for much more privacy and better view outside.
My first reaction to the seat was “Wow, what an upgrade to the 777.” It’s more modern and sleek.
The side table looks clean, and the wood finish in one of its platform is a nice touch.
The side panels on the side surface table conveniently places the seat controls, charging ports, and remote. Unfortunately, there’s no USB-C port.
While there’s no doors for privacy, there’s a slidable partition screen that can be used for privacy. It did its job well to hide your face at least and you can see its effects from the shade of a person behind the screen. I don’t think the odd-numbered single seats have this function!
There’s a second set of seat controls right next to the seat made for the lie-flat mode.
Storage space includes a headset inside with a sizable face mirror.
The tray table is slidable from underneath the entertainment screen.
The screen is a big upgrade from the one in Boeing 777. It’s bigger and the images are more crisp. The footwell underneath is spacious, and it also gives you a sloped footrest too. Quite unique!
The seat can go lie-flat, but I didn’t fully use it in such a short flight. Though, it’d be handy if you haven’t slept a lot before the flight.
EVA Air Boeing 787-10 Royal Laurel- Meal Service
Shortly after takeoff, meal was served. On EVA Air, you can pre-order your in-flight meal days before your flight. The menu will differ depending on route. If you do not pre-order, paper menu will be handed to you instead. I recommend pre-ordering your meals beforehand as they’re prepared by various celebrity chefs, which are more special I suppose.
The braised pork belly with rice prepared by Chef Ching-Biao, Huang was great! Braised pork with rice was one of my favorite things to eat while I was on the ground in Taipei, so it was a nice sendoff meal.
EVA Air Boeing 787-10 Royal Laurel- Entertainment
Movie selection onboard range from Hollywood movies to Asian dramas and anime. The short flight allowed for a full watch of King Richard.
Sadly, Wi-Fi still isn’t free on EVA Air.
EVA Air Boeing 787-10 Royal Laurel- Lavatory
The lavatory looks standard, but comes with Business Class-specific toiletries.
Conclusion
EVA Air’s Royal Laurel Business Class on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner is very impressive. It’s a much more improved product compared to the older Boeing 777 Royal Laurel Business Class.
The flight itself went smooth, and the food was still delicious even for a short-haul international flight. I do wish EVA would use the 787-10 more as long-haul segments with this plane is very limited from and to the US.
Though, it does fly the TPE-SEA route, and I would probably make a short positioning flight just for it since EVA Air’s 787 Royal Laurel excites me much more than the 777.