Review: EVA Airways Taipei to Fukuoka Laurel Business Class (Hello Kitty Jet) – Trip Report

Book your flight with EVA Airways here.

EVAAirways has a number of Hello Kitty jets which carry the popular figure on its livery.

I really wanted to try one of those and also was looking forward to the Laurel Business Class even though it would be just the regional configuration.

After my visit to the Infinity / Star lounge at the Taipei airport boarding was announced on time.

During that day Typhoon Francisco was forecasted to affect Fukouka but nobody at the check-in or Departure gate had any idea about the Typhoon. Well hopefully the pilots had an idea about it :)

Besides the livery there is a bit of Hello Kitty signage inside the plane. I actually liked the Hello Kitty trailers that were playing before take-off. It's a welcome change from the more boring airplane videos.





















The seat was comfortable yet did not go fully flat. It's most comparable with the Thai Airways newer regional business class. It's rather spacious and the recline is wide.

I slept almost the whole 2 hours to Fukouka until we were placed in a hold pattern in probably the worst weather around the airport. After being in the holding pattern for 20 minutes we proceeded through much smoother weather for the actual approach.

























EVA Airways flight attendants are overly strict sometimes and really enforce the rules. It's usually ok to get up and pack items in the overhead bin even if the seat belt sign has come on - not on EVA Air. Also leaving a Bose noise cancelling headset on during takeoff is a no-no at EVA Air.

There was catering in Business Class during that flight but I could not really take advantage of it since I was asleep :(

A word of caution when flying through Japan from Taipei and connecting to an International flight - bags can't be checked through. My route that day was Taipei-Fukouka-Tokyo (NRT) to San Jose, CA. Since Fukouka has a separate international and domestic terminal you will need to grab your bags and go through immigration. After that you will need to take the shuttle bus to the International terminal. I was really surprised by that but the check-in agent remained very sure about that procedure. I had almost 2 hours of layover and while flights were delayed because of the bad weather I was able to make it. There are several ANA agents ready to help and smoothen the process. While a nuisance - it's VERY well coordinated - as you would expect in Japan!

Book your flight with EVA Airways here.