China Airlines will begin flying the A350 on the Taipei-San Francisco route from May 14. The A350 had previously been flown on long-haul European routes such as Amsterdam, Vienna and Rome, making this the first American route to be flown by the A350. In addition to flights CI-4/CI-3 departing daily, China Airlines will now operate flights CI-16/CI-15 on Thursdays and Sundays as well bringing the total number of weekly services to 9. On June 28, additional flights will also be added on Wednesdays and Fridays to bring the total number of weekly services to 11 and provide passengers with more frequent flights.

San Francisco was the first American destination when China Airlines began developing Trans-Pacific services in 1970. The 777 passenger aircraft was introduced in July, 2015, and the new A350 aircraft will also be used on existing and additional services from May14 onwards. The newly added CI-16 Taipei-San Francisco service will depart at 6:00PM and arrive at 2:25PM local time on the same day in San Francisco. The CI-15 San Francisco-Taipei return flight departs at 4:50PM and arrives in Taipei at 9:10PM on the following day. The new service will provide travelers flying between Taiwan and America with more options.

China Airlines has 14 A350 passenger aircraft on order with 10 to be delivered by the year’s end. Once all are delivered in 2018, this will give a major boost to the China Airlines long-distance network. The A350 will begin flying the Taipei-Vancouver route from August as well to expand the range of traveler services. In addition to the expansion in direct flights, China Airlines also has code-share agreements in place with Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, Virgin America and WestJet of Canada. The ability to offer more than 600 code-share flights a week in the North American region and the ease of connecting flights will attract more business travelers and tourists.

The new A350 aircraft is praised for being the “most high-tech, most energy efficient, most eco-friendly, most spacious and least noisy.” The cabin is configured into 3 classes with 32 Premium Business, 31 Premium Economy and 243 Economy Class seats for a total passenger capacity of 306. The design of the cabin incorporates elements of youth and fashion with metallic materials for a modern feel. The spacious layout, Sky Lounge and mood lighting that change depending on the season and theme all combine to create the most comfortable flying space for travelers.

The China Airlines NexGen A350 fleet has garnered numerous awards since its launch including Japan’s Good Design Award which is one of the top 4 international design awards, “Best Business Class Seat Design” from the renowned U.S. travel magazine Global Traveler, as well as “TheDesignAir Readers Poll Awards 2016” and the “TheDesignAir Awards 2016” from the international aviation design website TheDesignAir. (2017/05/15)