This wasn’t a flight I wanted to take. I mean, who wants to check out of their swanky Bangkok hotel suite at 2230, a day earlier than planned, to catch a flight flying 3 hours in the wrong direction? Not many people, and certainly not me – but, you do what you gotta do when the world falls apart. 

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport was almost apocalyptic when we arrived. I’ve never seen queues like it, people everywhere. Check-in for our flight hadn’t opened when we got to the airport but it felt like the whole plane load of passengers was already in the queue to check in. Fortunately for us, the Sky Priority line for business class passengers was very short, with just 3 people ahead of us. 

As we were waiting, we were moved to create a second line for business class passengers and when the desk opened at exactly 3 hours before departure, we were the first to check in. Considering the volume of people, I thought security and immigration would be carnage, but there was no one in front of us at fast track security or immigration. 

We should have been flying home from Bangkok on Qatar and I was so excited for mum to experience the wonder of the bar on the A380, which is an incredible experience. But, as Qatari airspace was closed due to the war in Iran, Qatar had cancelled our flight and rebooked us on China Airlines. We walked past the Qatar desks on our way to fast track security and it looked…messy! 

I later learned that the flight those people were checking in for was a direct flight to Manchester, on the A380! My heart sank. Why hadn’t Qatar rebooked us on the direct flight? I can only assume that this flight hadn’t been confirmed when they rebooked us on China Airlines back to London. The published fare for the China Airlines flight was £11,000 for the 2 of us, and whilst Qatar wouldn’t have paid that much, I’m sure they would have preferred to put us on their own plane had they known it was operating. 

I also appreciate that there were thousands of people stranded in Thailand and cross SE Asia since the start of the war who would have taken priority for a seat on that plane. Although I later read that business class was virtually empty and there was no one at all in first class. 

Anyway, it is what it is, let’s get back to China Airlines. 

We were invited to use the Miracle Lounge but as China Airlines are part of Sky Team, we went to the Air France lounge instead. The China Airlines lounge was closed, due to this being the middle of the bloody night! We got to the Air France lounge just after midnight, and it closes at 2am.

I had high hopes for the Air France lounge. I expected gastronomic treats and chic furniture. Ha! There was a few dry sandwiches and the hot dishes didn’t look particularly appetising, nor were they very hot. It makes sense so late in the night to not be bringing fresh food out and eating the chicken and beef bourgingon filled a hole and passed the time. 

The seats were comfy enough and I liked that the lounge had areas of different levels of lighting so you didn’t have to sit like you were under a spotlight. One of the things I really dislike about the Qatar lounges in Doha, and especially the Al Safwa first class lounge, is how damn bright they are. 

The lounge was about 10 minutes walk from the gate, where boarding started slightly late at about 0215. 

I was immediately impressed by the seat on the A321neo. The seats, in 2-2 config, go fully flat, despite this being a short haul aircraft. There’s not a great deal of storage, but it’s a smart design, felt cosy and comfortable. I loved the big, velvety cushion with the pikachu design adding a touch of fun. There’s also a decent blanket and slippers. I love it when airlines give you slippers. 

There was a good selection of movies, new releases as well as some classics like Edward Scissorhands and Pretty Woman. We were welcomed onboard with the offer of a drink of orange or pink lemonade bubble tea, which was tangy and tasty.

We pushed back at 0255, so exactly 20 minutes late, but didn’t take off until 0310. With one eye on the fact that we had a connection to make, we really didn’t need to leave 40 minutes late, but at least the expected flying time was 2 hours 55 minutes rather than the 3 hours 40 minutes scheduled. 

Champagne and packets of snacks were handed out about 30 minutes after take off. The packet was really hard to open and the little snacks were tasty, but not very premium. 

Supper, dinner, whatever meal it is that gets served at 0400, but isnt breakfast, was excellent. Both mum and I ordered the sweet and sour pork and I loved the big chunks of pork and the sauce was delicious. The whole dish was still piping hot even after eating the salad starter. 

Mum wasnt keen on the pork so I ended up with both portions, and she wasnt keen on the scallop and caviar, so I ended up having that too! I had to ask for a second glass of champagne with dessert although mum was proactively offered more drinks.

Mum went with ice cream for dessert and I went with the chocolate cake, which was so moist. The fruit salad was excellent quality. 

For a short hop of less than 3 hours, I don’t think I could have been more impressed. It made me excited for the delights of the 16 hour flight to London still ahead of us!

We didn’t have long for our connection at Taipei, but popped our head in the China Airlines lounge near A gates. The place was packed and we struggled to find seats. The lounge has lovely decor and I loved the moody corridor leading to the lounge but it was hectic and felt like a food court. Other guests were taking food from the buffet and putting it in sandwich bags to take away. I’m sure this happens in other places, but I’ve never seen that before! We had a quick cup of tea and got out of there. 

Boarding started dead on 0815 with pushback at 0850. We were served the choices of water, orange juice or honey and chia. No champagne, which feels a bit stingy for long haul business class. 

We were a bit late taking off and were in the air about 0915. The flight was scheduled in at 16 hours but had an expected flying time of 14 hours 43 minutes. I was glad about that as I was hoping to be able to catch a train straight back to Yorkshire and if we were late, we’d probably end up staying at Heathrow, which I didn’t really want to do.

The seat wasn’t as new as the A321neo we’d just got off, but it was comfortable enough. We were in the middle pair towards the rear of the business class cabin and the crew were already helping people put the mattress covers on the seats as we boarded. There’s not a lot of storage and the compartments that are there are quite small. The seat controls seemed very flexible and you can fiddle with different angles to find your perfect position. 

I was pleased to see slippers and the Moschino branded amenity kit was very nice, if a little feminine, but I loved that it comes with a luggage tag. I don’t know what happened to pikachu, the pillow on this flight was decidedly flat and boring in comparison. 

A glass of champagne and the starter was served about 20 minutes after take off. The stuffed squid was…different. I enjoyed it and the rolled beef had a nice bit of heat running through it. You get all the appetisers with a choice of 3 mains, and it turns out, it’s quite a lot of food. 

The duck salad was great with the cherry and whilst the scallops were nice and chunky, there wasn’t a huge amount of flavour. Scallops are overrated. I’ve got no idea what was in the warm bready thing wrapped in paper, but it was ok. I guess it was the wheel pie. The broth was nice but the gristly bits of chewy meat were not at all to my taste and I couldn’t eat them. 

The chicken and pork dish was lovely although the chicken still had the skin on which isn’t to everyone’s taste. I couldn’t finish it all, it’s getting to the point of too much food. I did still manage to squeeze in some fruit, but I’m not sure why it had salt sprinkled on it. 

Lunch service was over by 1145 and then it was time to try and get some rest. The movie selection was the same as the previous flight, so I put Edward Scissorhands on in the background and snoozed through most of it. I then had a decent sleep for a few hours after the film had finished.

I ordered an oolong tea thinking we had hours to go until the next meal service, but breakfast was about to start. Considering we were only half way through and still had 7 hours until landing, it felt a bit early to be serving breakfast. Never mind that it was 1600 in Taipei time.

The lights came up and the crew came around with hot towels, but it took almost an hour to bring out the meal. There’s only 24 seats in business class on this A350, but I think the same crew worked business and premium economy so sometimes service was a little slow. It was always smiley and friendly. 

The fruit salad for breakfast didn’t have the salty taste of the earlier version but the grapes weren’t seedless. A small point, but grapes should always be seedless. I loved the Parmesan croissant and the fig and Brie was lovely, but I really don’t like falafel and even the smell of it turns me off. I guess it’s western of Taiwan but not western enough for my English palette.

I don’t know what your longest flight has been, but by hour 12, I was about ready to get off, and I love flying! I ordered another oolong tea and some Korean popcorn chicken from the snack menu and tried to muster the desire to watch the 400th movie of the journey. Fortunately, the film selection was good enough to keep me entertained between naps. 

In the end, the flying time was 15 hours 15 minutes. That’s a bloody long time to be sat in a tube in the sky travelling at hundreds of miles per hour. Whilst it did feel endless at points, especially as we’d already done a 3 hour flight before this one, it is better than the 2 shorter hops via the Middle East as you have longer to rest and sleep. 

The food and drink offering on China Airlines was very good. I’d almost go as far to say there was too much food during the main meal, and the timing of the second meal could be closer to the end of the flight. Drinks weren’t proactively refreshed but service was friendly and you could get a top when asking. 

Whilst I was gutted to not fly home with Qatar on the A380, I really can’t argue with China Airlines. It’s a decent product.

Date of trip; March 2025

Price paid; 75,000 Avios plus £156 per person (it’s worth noting that China Airlines is not usually bookable with Avios, we were rebooked on China Airlines by Qatar after Qatar Airways cancelled our flight)