EVA Air (BR 272) flight, Manila to Taipei

I haven’t gotten out of the country in close to a year, and so an opportunity to go to Taiwan was a welcome respite. I can’t believe how close Taipei is to Manila. Flight time to Taipei Taoyuan International Airport via the Taiwanese-owned EVA Air was only one hour, 36 minutes! I think a domestic trip to Davao City takes longer

I was also happy to try EVA Air, since this is one airline I haven’t tried before. Was much comforted with the fact that this was included in my previous post about the world’s safest airlines. For the Manila-Taipei-Manila leg, EVA uses the wide-bodied Boeing B747s. Being in their deluxe economy class section means that one enjoys the perks of being in business class without the expensive price. And the seat configuration is at a spacious 2-4-2.

Travel tip: tickets to Taipei are priced as low as US$160 for this trip’s official travel agency, Jeron Travel. I also remember my neighbor who prefers to take EVA for their family’s trips to the US because its fares are actually lower than PAL. But I guess EVA is one airline which doesn’t advertise or promote itself aggressively, depending more on word of mouth to do the job.

This is the inflight meal we took, braised chicken with peppers bearing some kind of similarity to adobo. Unfortunately, I lost the appetite to finish this as moderate turbulence shook the plane while we were in the process of eating (ouch! there goes my travel enemy no. 1) I did hear from my companions that the vegetarian meal option was the best ever.

Flying business means one also gets to use EVA’s Evergreen Lounge at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport before the flight. There’s free wifi as well as an extensive selection of food like dimsum, noodles, sandwiches and drinks.

In the meantime, welcome Taiwan! I am here to savor the sights and tastes of this neighboring Asian country for the next few days. The lines at immigration were so loooong……….!