Airline: China Airlines
Flight: CI70
Type: Airbus A350-900
Registration: B-18915
Flight of origin: London Gatwick, UK
Terminal: South Terminal
Destination: Taipei-Taoyan, Republic of China
Terminal: 1
Date:5th September 2018
Flight time: 13 hours & 25 minutes
Type of Travel: Non-European flight to Asia
The first adventure travelling to Asia begins with China Airlines from London, UK - Tokyo Narita, Japan! But first in order to get to Tokyo is that I have to go to Taipei-Taoyan in Taiwan officially known as Republic of China (ROC) not to be confused with People's Republic of China.
It was gone 9pm (BST) in London Gatwick's South Terminal flights from the EU & the US have finish throughout the night When my flight is the last one for the night to Taipei-Taoyan International Airport. The flight was the brand new Airbus A350 latest edition to the Airbus family to get to Taiwan. This is the 900 series. Before we begin, some of these images without my logo will not be featured on my other websites.
For those who you don't know, I was on a 18 hour layover into Taiwan, so if you book with China Airlines regardless if you have an overnight transit with a hotel booked, you'll still have this Transfer Boarding Pass plus you are also checked in towards your final destination which I did to Tokyo Narita, Japan that will cover the next flight report.
As I entered the cabin, I was greeted for all Economy Class a pillow and blanket which I wasn't expecting if other Full Service Airliners doesn't include one. The best part of this flight, I was on my own with no one next to me so I have all the leg room for me to sleep throughout the flight & sleep like my own bed. For that reason, I call myself in this Economy Class area the Economy Card Plus in my opinion. The seats is so much comfortable you'll also get extra leg room even with the seat back you still get more room when you sleep.
Because this a long haul flight, I really do get bored because I'm use to travelling short haul within the EU that makes the flight very short. When I traveled to the United States in 2015, the flight got well bored as I mentioned it was a disaster for those who seen my blog for a while. At least what I love with China Airlines is that the flight entertainment is there for long haul travelers such as movies that makes the flight faster, WI-FI and on-board and AC Adapter for plugs for the UK I don't know if it works on EU or US plugs. It has one USB port for charging mobile phones & tablets. Before takeoff, Cabin Crew has giving us couple of nice things. So as you can see, the cabin looks completely modern, super clean and very relaxing.
After you've settled down before the flight is closing, you'll receive a pouch, inside you'll get a sleep mask, slippers to be use for sleep & walk the cabin without any disturbance to other passengers and also Taiwanese style I believe. And couple of items with tooth paste & tooth brush. I've used their tooth brush it's made of plastic very clear see through but the brush was hard. The tooth paste is hard plastic making it hard to squeeze which unfortunately I had tooth pasted on my shirt so I have to get changed before landing,
This is the important part for passengers who are Non-Taiwanese Citizens who are entering Taiwan as their final destination. All foreign passports including Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong and Macao you will need to fill in a arrival card form for your port of entry into Taiwan. Fail to write in the application, the immigration officer will not let you enter the country until you've finished the application then you'll be able to enter Taiwan. Cabin crew on my flight gave out these arrival cards before takeoff. If you lost the card, their's stacks of these by passport control. For me because I had a long layover & stayed at a hotel, this was classed as my final destination.
So about three hours in the flight, it was dinner time. The menu I had is Oyster Chicken with rice, roll, fruit and some Taiwanese small disk I don't know the name off. We have a drink with your choice tea or coffee. Desert is not featured on this photo I had chocolate ice cream in general I'm not a fan of anything chocolate with ice cream or milk shake but this was pretty good.
After dinner, the crew dim the lights to orange to indicate the sun is setting for roughly an hour till cabin crew walked around the cabin all window blinds must be closed. But before I was going to sleep I went to the toilets to brush my teeth. The best part of this, the toilets have a music hidden to help us go to the toilet. So after the toilet, it was time for bed so I've turned everything off & sleep.
Seven hours into the flight, it was sunrise over the Pakistani Airspace near towards India I was still tired so I was still sleeping.
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| Over Chinese Airspace during lunch time in the Asia side. |
Ten hours & fifty minutes later on 6th September, the crew dim the lights to blue for 20 minutes roughly for sign of an early sunrise then it changed again to a sun colour for sunrise. I've missed out the blue dim lights because I was still sleeping. The blue lights indicate that the sun is either sunrise or sun setting your body feels depends where you are travelling from is use to the country where is day time while it's night time the other side of the Earth. Because this is sunrise you can tell by the lights passengers are slowly awake going to the toilet while we wait for breakfast.
Even though it's mid afternoon in the Chinese Airspace, we was still served for breakfast the way the body is use to UK time. On the menu I had Chorizo & Tomato Frittata with strawberry yogurt, roll and coffee. It was delicious to start your day ish. The food is nice but the yogurt I think it flavorless.
On screen, you'll have different layout option during the flight & which mode you want to set it on. Their is a window and cockpit mode (not with a camera just digital) with an attitude and speed on cockpit mode. I rather use this on long haul flight than short haul in my opinion. Overall this is a really nice layout of the world with also you're flight arrival and connecting flights.
I'm not a movie lover, China Airlines do have some awesome selection of movies if you're a fan of Star Wars or Marvel Avengers. Their is kids section with only one episode of Spongebob Square Pants and couple of Peppa Pig their is also kids movies selection. They have built in games I didn't use it because I have my Nintendo Switch with me. I'm not sure if this change every monthly.
Issued on 6th September I finally arrived in Taiwan! the line for immigration took half an hour with a quick progress with my two finger print scan no questions why I'm in the country then STAMP! I got stamped in Taiwan as a tourist. I couldn't get a final photo of the plane so you'll see it on my YouTube Channel.
And finally I waited for my baggage which it took roughly 15 minutes after I arrived as you can see their was quite a few flights on baggage reclaim. After I cleared immigration, my luggage arrived. Going through customs wasn't a problem although my luggage was examined in x-ray but it was clear & ready for my next flight.
My overall rating from Aircraft Aviation in Europe:
- Cabin: 10/10
- Hygienic: 10/10
- Food: 9.8/10
- Cabin Crew: 10/10
- Service: 10/10
Overall: 9.9/10
I like to thank China Airliners for this outstanding flight half way crossing the world. This will be one of my best flights I ever had for a full service airliner. If you like to see more of this flight, click my latest Full Flight Video on my YouTube Channel to watch it in action.
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