EVA Air Hello Kitty A330-300 Trip Report 2014
For the next two trip reports, I wasn’t prepared to write about these two relatively well-known airlines, but since I was fortunate enough to fly on some rather empty J flights, I might as well share my experiences and photos.
EVA Air has really tried very hard to improve its service, ever since it has entered Star Alliance. Its well-received Royal Laurel Class on its Boeing 777-300ERs has been widely praised by various bloggers and flyers here. Most of us are also familiar with its fleet of Hello Kitty Airbus A330-300s. EVA Air has bought three of these largest A330-300s to fly these highly popular destinations to the Mainland China and Japan, and they were all painted in various Hello Kitty schemes, to accompany its two smaller Hello Kitty A330-200s. People are really happy to see these Hello Kitty planes and EVA Air has scored a major branding opportunity here. No matter how long this Hello Kitty program has been on going, people are still snapping pictures and putting them in the social media world. Economy cabin is always full, and I like how BR keeps on refreshing the design on its menus, amenities, and items related to Hello Kitty flights. This animated cat with no mouth keeps everyone excited about a vacation, and makes a routine Taiwan to Japan flight a bit different and unique.
Here are the flights I took:
July 20, 2014
BR 190 Taipei Sung Shan to Tokyo Haneda Lv1600 Arr1955 Airbus A330-300X B-16332 “Hello Kitty Loves Apple”
July 22, 2014
BR 105 Fukuoka to Taipei Taoyuan Lv1220 Arr1340 Airbus A330-300X B-16331 “Hello Kitty with Magic Stars”
Check-in:
Sorry no photos here, as I was not initially planning to write about these flights.
I was really impressed with the new international terminal of Sung Shan Airport, and they did a pretty good job in refurbishing it. It was still a bit crowded compared to other Taiwan airports, but given the constrained space of a typical downtown airport, it is acceptable. The check-in counters were very busy but priority passengers were well taken care of. EVA Air full staffed their check-in counters, so there was little wait for either business or economy passengers. Every agent was friendly and every request was granted. That is what service should be!
Planes rotation:
If you look at my actual itinerary, the planes used were a bit unusual. B-16331 “Hello Kitty with Magic Stars” and B-16333 “Hello Kitty Around the World” are two A330-300s based in Taipei Sung Shan Airport and used on the Haneda and Shanghai Hongqiao flights, while B-16332 “Hello Kitty Loves Apple” is based in Taipei Taoyuan Airport flying to Fukuoka in the morning, and flying to Seoul Incheon in the later afternoon/evening hours. But lately I noticed that EVA Air had started to rotate this plane, as I presumed that maintenance work is mostly done in Taoyuan. I am happy to fly two different Hello Kitty jets anyway. I have already flown both A330-200s – Happy Music and Speed Puff last year. Now I am just missing two Hello Kitty jets on my flight log - B-16333 “Hello Kitty Around the World” and B-16703 “Sanrio Family Hand in Hand,” the long haul Boeing 777-300ER.
Shot of the planes involved on this flight:
B-16331 “Hello Kitty with Magic Stars”
These two pictures were actually shot at Sung Shan Airport… B-16331 was heading out to Shanghai Hongqiao this afternoon, before flying to Taoyuan for repositioning later that evening.
B-16332 “Hello Kitty Loves Apple” – busy plane and it had already flown one roundtrip between TSA and HND in the morning. Just arrived from Haneda – even a few minutes early…
Plane-spotting at Sung Shan Airport
Japan Airlines Boeing 767-300ER JA654J
ANA Star Alliance Boeing 767-300ER JA614A
For the next two trip reports, I wasn’t prepared to write about these two relatively well-known airlines, but since I was fortunate enough to fly on some rather empty J flights, I might as well share my experiences and photos.
EVA Air has really tried very hard to improve its service, ever since it has entered Star Alliance. Its well-received Royal Laurel Class on its Boeing 777-300ERs has been widely praised by various bloggers and flyers here. Most of us are also familiar with its fleet of Hello Kitty Airbus A330-300s. EVA Air has bought three of these largest A330-300s to fly these highly popular destinations to the Mainland China and Japan, and they were all painted in various Hello Kitty schemes, to accompany its two smaller Hello Kitty A330-200s. People are really happy to see these Hello Kitty planes and EVA Air has scored a major branding opportunity here. No matter how long this Hello Kitty program has been on going, people are still snapping pictures and putting them in the social media world. Economy cabin is always full, and I like how BR keeps on refreshing the design on its menus, amenities, and items related to Hello Kitty flights. This animated cat with no mouth keeps everyone excited about a vacation, and makes a routine Taiwan to Japan flight a bit different and unique.
Here are the flights I took:
July 20, 2014
BR 190 Taipei Sung Shan to Tokyo Haneda Lv1600 Arr1955 Airbus A330-300X B-16332 “Hello Kitty Loves Apple”
July 22, 2014
BR 105 Fukuoka to Taipei Taoyuan Lv1220 Arr1340 Airbus A330-300X B-16331 “Hello Kitty with Magic Stars”
Check-in:
Sorry no photos here, as I was not initially planning to write about these flights.
I was really impressed with the new international terminal of Sung Shan Airport, and they did a pretty good job in refurbishing it. It was still a bit crowded compared to other Taiwan airports, but given the constrained space of a typical downtown airport, it is acceptable. The check-in counters were very busy but priority passengers were well taken care of. EVA Air full staffed their check-in counters, so there was little wait for either business or economy passengers. Every agent was friendly and every request was granted. That is what service should be!
Planes rotation:
If you look at my actual itinerary, the planes used were a bit unusual. B-16331 “Hello Kitty with Magic Stars” and B-16333 “Hello Kitty Around the World” are two A330-300s based in Taipei Sung Shan Airport and used on the Haneda and Shanghai Hongqiao flights, while B-16332 “Hello Kitty Loves Apple” is based in Taipei Taoyuan Airport flying to Fukuoka in the morning, and flying to Seoul Incheon in the later afternoon/evening hours. But lately I noticed that EVA Air had started to rotate this plane, as I presumed that maintenance work is mostly done in Taoyuan. I am happy to fly two different Hello Kitty jets anyway. I have already flown both A330-200s – Happy Music and Speed Puff last year. Now I am just missing two Hello Kitty jets on my flight log - B-16333 “Hello Kitty Around the World” and B-16703 “Sanrio Family Hand in Hand,” the long haul Boeing 777-300ER.
Shot of the planes involved on this flight:
B-16331 “Hello Kitty with Magic Stars”
These two pictures were actually shot at Sung Shan Airport… B-16331 was heading out to Shanghai Hongqiao this afternoon, before flying to Taoyuan for repositioning later that evening.
B-16332 “Hello Kitty Loves Apple” – busy plane and it had already flown one roundtrip between TSA and HND in the morning. Just arrived from Haneda – even a few minutes early…
Plane-spotting at Sung Shan Airport
Japan Airlines Boeing 767-300ER JA654J
ANA Star Alliance Boeing 767-300ER JA614A
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