China Airlines, the national airline of Taiwan, may not have quite the same name recognition as the likes of Cathay Pacific, JAL or Singapore Airlines, but their offering comes out fighting. I reviewed their Premium Economy cabin here and, despite some shortcomings, it is a very competitive product. Prior to my long, nonstop journey to London, I utilised my SkyTeam Elite Plus status (Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold) to access frequent flyer perks including extra baggage, priority boarding, check-in as well as lounge access.
China Airlines has one lounge at Terminal 1 in Taipei which is accessible to SkyTeam Elite Plus and Business Class passengers. There is an separate room within the lounge exclusively for China Airlines Emerald and Paragon members only – which is likely to affect near zero TLFL readers.
All lounges in Terminal 1 are located on the same corridor at Taoyuan International Airport alongside Plaza Premium, Cathay Pacific and Starlux. If you don’t have lounge access, there is a quasi-lounge rest area operated by Plaza Premium that is free to access.
The lounge features a wooden, nature-inspired aesthetic which simultaneously looks good but is completely unsuitable for a space that lacks natural lighting. As such, the photos are not the highest quality in this review.
The tiniest amount of natural light enters through the windows at one end which have a view of a concrete wall which the airline has covered with plastic plants.
Almost the entirety of the lounge can be seen in the photo below with the space consisting of one large rectangle broken up in the centre with self-service food and drink areas.
A selection of seating is available, including dining and lounge areas, although our during the peak morning hour many of these were occupied for the duration of the visit. We ended up opting for a dining table which had easily accessible US-style power outlets
Several relaxation suites are available on a first-come, first served basis which were not being used during our visit. Since I was originating in Taipei, I didn’t need to frequent the space but I can imagine these are pretty useful for people connecting at the airport. The chairs looked functional but not massively comfortable, though if you are sleep deprived it is probably better than a regular chair.
Likewise, there are clean, stylish bathrooms available featuring shower rooms, Japanese toilets and plenty of amenities available on demand. It hits all the right notes if you have a couple hours connecting at the airport.
Food was a real highlight of this lounge since it is almost, but not quite, on a par with Cathay Pacific – a set of lounges many TLFL readers have experienced. That’s quite a high bar, particularly as we visited during breakfast service – traditionally the weakest meal option offered by all lounges. Primarily Asian options are provided in this lounge, such as dim sum, sticky rice, congee (rice porridge) etc., in the buffet area. There wasn’t a huge selection of non-Asian options here, although there was a random self serve sweets area if you needed to load up on sugar.
Additionally, an excellent noodle bar is available where the bowls are pulled together by the lounge staff. Simple but flavourful, it’s a good option ahead of a long flight without that unhealthy feeling a lot of lounge food has. It certainly doesn’t beat Cathay’s Dan Dan Mian, though.
Drinks were not quite to the lofty heights set by the food. There were plenty of self-service drinks stations throughout the lounge with a limited selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Coffee was substandard in comparison to the rest of the lounge offering.
China Airlines have done a decent job with this lounge. Yes, there are shortcomings owing to the lack of natural light compounded by dark materials. But, this lounge would be a pleasure to return to if I were travelling through Taipei on China Airlines again. It hits almost all the right notes. Overall, the China Airlines experience on the ground and in the air is good at the right price. And that is the problem particularly for UK and European travellers who have a plethora of excellent connecting options with equally good if not better experiences via the Middle East, Singapore or Hong Kong. China Airlines just isn’t competitive across experience and price to justify choosing them over the competition.
