It has been a long while since I last flew with EVA airways. It is one of the national carriers of Taiwan (the other being China airlines). For our long-haul trip to Europe, we managed to secure cheap tickets from Hong Kong to Paris, returning from Vienna. Since it was on EVA Air, there was a stopover in Taipei. Our first leg was BR868 from Hong Kong to Taipei, with a flight time of 1h 45min.

Boarding for our flight began half an hour before the departure. There were many Taiwanese on board this flight.

It was a cloudy November afternoon at Hong Kong International Airport. I had the window seat so I could enjoy the views. Many Cathay Dragon airplanes parked in the remote area.

As our plane was taxiing to the runway, I had a clear view of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. Four home-based carriers – Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon, Hong Kong Airlines and HK Express – will offer check-in facilities at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) boundary crossing.

Spotted a Qatar Airways plane while on the runway. As it was in the early afternoon, there was a queue for flights taking off and we had to wait on the tarmac for about 15 minutes.

Interior of the cabin. It was an Airbus A321 plane with 3-3 seat configuration. This is a narrow body jet, but EVA has made the best of it in terms of space. The personal entertainment system was old, but at least it kept me occupied during this short-haul flight.

15 minutes after take off, the crew started the on board service. They gave us a sweet and savoury snack each, with mineral water, choice of hot tea or coffee. We experienced some turbulence mid-flight, so the service of tea and coffee was suspended for a while.

Inside the Osteria box, there were two pieces of cake, one with raisin and the other was sugar cake. EVA Air will give passengers “dreamy Italian desserts” on it’s HKG-TPE flights (excluding BR828/852/856) starting Oct 1, made by Angie in Taipei. The items served will change every month. PAUL’s cake has been replaced. I was not immediately whisked to Italy after eating the cake as claimed by the advertisement. The cakes were slightly dry, maybe because they were packaged for some time and not fresh from the cafe. Food was alright but the service was excellent.

At 15:00, we began our descent into Taipei Taoyuan airport. We have about 8h of layover so I am looking forward to exploring Taipei again after a 7 year hiatus.

Due to the delay in take off, we landed 10 minutes later than schedule, at 15:30. The flight overall was pleasant and I was surprised to have a nice snack on board even though it was a short flight. The service by the staff was good and I even had time to catch half a movie with the entertainment system.

Looking forward to our next leg on EVA Air which will take us to Paris!