I’ve flown on EVA Air before but never reviewed it as I wasn’t satisfied with the photos and it was also quite some time ago. While I was in Dubai for the airshow, I became Ill which sadly meant moving my Brazil trip to a later date due to the fact of getting a yellow fever shot while unwell is a recipe for disaster. I decided it’d be best to head home and get better and rest as my immune system had been pretty bad for the past few months.

I booked EVA Air as they well priced when l looked, even at the last minute. I was booked on a 77W flight via Bangkok then headed to Brisbane onboard their 787-10: this is also my first experience on a -10 Dreamliner. The airline has a total of 4 in the fleet as well as a further 4 -9’s.

The EVA Air 787-10 features 342 seats and these are split between two cabins, business and economy class. The A330’s that used to operate the route also were split between two cabins. I find it quite interesting that they didn’t fit the aircraft out with premium economy considering their opposition carriers have similar-sized aircraft with PE installed.

The business class cabin on board the aircraft has a capacity of 34 seats which each have a pitch of 45” and a width of 23.”

The first impressions I had when I first got on board were extremely positive. I love the grey as well as the dark wood/brown colour of the trim and finishes – it’s a beautiful looking cabin.

These seats are Thompson XL Vantages that have been customised to EVA’s specifications with the help of Designworks who are apart of the BMW group. To take a look at the whole design sketches and process,  take a look here.

To my surprise, the flight was zeroed entirely out; there wasn’t one seat empty. I’ve never really looked into the loads on EVA out of Brisbane, but it was nice to see the demand is strong and is often the case.

For my flight, I went with seat 5A which is a ‘true’ window seat as you’ll notice not all window seats are the same in this configuration, so it’s best to check the seat map beforehand to make sure you don’t make the mistake of getting one of the aisle seats.

The seat is just elegant and modern looking, EVA did do a tremendous job. The area around the seat is quite plentiful, and I never had any issues getting into the seat while someone else was in the aisle.

Awaiting at your seat will be a pillow (which was a little light for my liking), a pair of slippers, and a pair of noise-cancelling headphones which are stowed away. The suite also has an added bit of privacy with the addition of a sliding screen which did an excellent job of making it feel more like a suite.

The seating controls are found at the start of the side table and include a range of features including a do not disturb button, lighting controls and the ability to have a massage. I, for one, love the look of how the controls are presented and again brings a nice sleek feeling to the seat.

Just after the seating controls is where you’ll find the headphone jack as well as a 110v power outlet coupled with a standard USB port. One thing I’d love to see more airlines adapting to is more USB-C ports. With more and more companies switching over to the smaller and more powerful ports, I would have thought by now a lot more carriers would have done so. Am I the only one to find that odd?

Directly next to the in-seat power is where the IFE remote controller is found:

Where the headphones are kept is also where you’ll find a nicely sized vanity mirror:

You’ll also find a further pair of seat and light controls directly under the side table.

I was very impressed with the IFE screen on the flight as well as how detailed and high resolution it was. The overall size of the screen is 18 inches, and sadly the only small negative was the inability to change viewing angle when you’re lying down.

The crew came around to introduce themselves once all the passengers were seated, and this when I knew this flight would be fantastic. The cabin crew member who was looking after my row was amicable and warm with all of the passengers she served. An excellent cabin crew can make a huge difference to a flight.

A glass of chilled water was served as well as hot towel:

A bar of small dark chocolate was also served with the water and towel:

The crew also handed out an entry form as well as an express path:

Now it’s not often for many of the Asian carriers to offer pyjamas in business, but EVA Air shocked me when I saw the crew bringing them around the cabin, very surprised to see them on an 8/9 hour flight – Nice work EVA!

Both the pyjamas and slippers are from the brand, JASON WU.

The meal service started off with a ginger ale, a glass of Champagne and some warmed bread with butter and some olive oil to accompany.

To start of start off the meal service, a Roasted Chicken and Baby Artichoke Heart, Garlic Flavoured Cream Cheese with Peach in Mini Tartlet were served:

Next was the Foie Gras Pate with Caramelised Onion Red Wine Jelly and a Cajun Prawn:

And for the main selection, I went with the Pan Fried Duck Breast with Dijon Grainy Mustard Sauce, assorted Vegetables and Fettuccine:

And for the dessert, I had the Nocciola and some fresh fruits. I will have to say that dessert was the tastiest thing I’ve had in a long, long time on a flight – it was Amazing!

After the meal service was completed, the crew gave every passenger a bottle of Fiji water. This was also the time I went and got changed into my pyjamas as I wanted to get a few hours of sleep before getting home.

The bathroom was kept very clean throughout the whole flight, and I found it to be spacious:

As I arrived back at my seat, I noticed it had already been prepared for sleeping without me having to say a thing before I left to get changed – that’s some brilliant attentive service.

As the flight is overnight, the meal service is done soon after takeoff and seemed to be completed within 2 hours and not once did it feel rushed, it was a really efficient service.

I’m not one to hide away and say that a lot of airlines often struggle with breakfast on flights, but I was again pleasantly surprised with what I enjoyed on EVA. The eggs weren’t watery and actually had some great taste, the potatoes weren’t soft or oily, and the peppers added an extra bit of spice and flavour.

I also decided to have some fresh fruits which were also accompanied by strawberry yogurt as well as some oats.

After about 8 hours, It was time for us to start our descent into Brisbane and It was shaping up to be a brilliant clear approach home.

For those interested in the amenity kit onboard, EVA stocks some lovely Salvatore Ferragamo amenities in a nice trunk case:

The weather on the day of arrival has absolutely beautiful, and it gave me an excellent opportunity to see our approach with excellent visibility, I also hadn’t taken this arrival route in some time, so it was nice for something different.

The approach looped right around the CBD and then lining up to runway 01 which gave a fantastic view of our city and river (also famously called ”the brown snake” by locals).

Just over eight and a half hours and I had arrived home; it was great to be home and finally be able to recover from a persistent cold.

Overall

I knew EVA Air was a fantastic airline, but I didn’t expect them to be this good. I’ve often seen people refer to EVA Air business as a lite first class on other carriers and I can see why, there is soo many little things that really made this flight spectacular.

The food onboard was outstanding, really quite impressive, the privacy of the seat was also sufficient, and the bed was comfortable enough, I was able to have about 5 hours of great sleep and finally, the cabin crew. The crew on this service were flawless. From the quick and efficient service to the warm conversations that were able to be had – I felt this flight had definitely been better than some SQ flights crew wise.

Would you fly EVA Air Business Class?