Right, the same newspaper is now reporting that the end to the service is not a permanent move. Phuket Air have now announced that it is only temporary and for ‘maintenance’ reasons. Services are expected to resume on 31 October. After the recent incident at Sharjah, I think this is a wise move!

As for more services at Amsterdam, it doesn’t look like there are any extra flights planned.

P.S. Hello A330Crazy 🙂

Don’t EVA stop in BKK on their AMS-TPE route, as well? Is the 744 not able to do LHR/AMS-TPE non-stop then, or any other aircraft they operate, for that matter? I’m just wondering why they would do this. Looks like you scored getting the premium economy on the return leg, eh?

To be honest, I believe that operating services from London and Amsterdam to Taipei are in the airline’s best interests if operated via Bangkok. Bangkok is hugely popular and I know that my outward flight was totally full. If the aircraft was to fly direct to Taipei, I wonder how many of the seats would be occupied?

Secondly, EVA don’t have to waste aircraft operating flights from Taipei to Bangkok. They simply combine it with other, longer flights and can use the other aircraft on other routes.

I know for a fact though, that EVA is the only airline to serve Taipei from Heathrow, 5 nights a week.

As for flying Evergreen Deluxe home, I cannot wait. Their Economy was alright but I’ve experienced far better with Thai and United (good old Star Alliance). Rather than a 3-4-3 seating configuration, its 2-4-2 and rather than 33″ seat pitch, we’ll have 38″ plus a good sized PTV, too.

Why did you not fly TG this time around? Was EVA considerably cheaper? Also, what routing did you take? I’m assuming you originated in Heathrow.

Thai have got stupidly expensive when booked using the tour operator we use (Kuoni). Although you can pick up a flight only for about 380GBP return. That’s the reason for not choosing Thai.

We were originally booked onto Phuket Air (eww..!) from London Gatwick and that is direct to Bangkok but on the return leg, it stops off for 3 hours in Dubai. To be honest, I couldn’t be bothered with that. Many people we have met here in Thailand have flown with 9R (Phuket) and they do not rate them. Some have summed them up as the poor man’s Thai Airways. Service is very similar but it is not half as good as the national airline.

EVA Air operates our of Heathrow 5 nights a week as BR67 and it flies to Taipei in Taiwan via Bangkok. The stopover in Bangkok is about 90 minutes I think. Interestingly enough, EVA are getting 777-300ERs later in the year and these will be on the LHR-BKK-TPE route. The entire aircraft configured in a four class layout with PTVs in all cabins.

We had to put up with Economy Class on the aircraft and we honestly didn’t know what to expect since most reviews on the Internet were all based on Premium Economy (aka Evergreen Deluxe). Economy was acceptable but the aircraft was very shabby and looked old on the inside. Pitch was an impressive 33″ (just 1″ more offered by Thai) and we were shown three recent films (compared to NONE with Thai). The crew were miserable throughout the 10 hour and 50 minute service to Bangkok, so that didn’t impress me. We were served two meals and one snack, all of which were okay. Thai’s inflight food is first class.

Next year, I’d love to travel Thai again. Although Economy Class is basic, their service is unbeatable and by far, the finest I’ve ever come across. Only one of my four flights has not been enjoyed.

Next year, we’re hoping to get booked onto Qatar Airways. My parents flew them a couple of years back and loved the experience. We can handle to very quick connection in Doha and get to experience four takeoffs and landings on two different types of aircraft – the A330 (LHR-DOH-LHR) and the A300 (DOH-BKK-DOH), so something to look forward to, if the price is right!