EVA Air brings premium economy to first Boeing 787 Dreamliners with all-new design

Taiwan-based airline EVA Air is giving its premium economy cabin a face-lift, and bringing the mid-tier cabin to a new part of its fleet for the first time.

The Star Alliance carrier on Monday unveiled its latest-generation premium economy seats, which will debut in the coming weeks.

Launching on the carrier's newest Boeing 787-9, this will be the first time premium economy has appeared on one of EVA's Dreamliners.

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That itself is a somewhat ironic milestone: Though EVA claims to have pioneered the modern premium economy concept in the early 1990s, until now its Dreamliners have been arranged in a simpler two-cabin layout, featuring business and economy options.

Last summer, though, TPG reported the carrier soon planned to bring the midplane offering to its newly delivered 787-9 aircraft. And starting March 1, those plans will come to fruition — with an all-new cabin design to boot.

"As the world's first airline to launch premium economy class, EVA Air has consistently focused on innovation driven by passenger needs and setting industry trends," EVA President Clay Sun said in a statement announcing the news, citing the "comfort, fashion, and functionality" of the updated cabin.

EVA's new premium economy cabin design

Featuring an expansive 42 inches of seat pitch — which means ample legroom — EVA's updated premium cabin will launch on flights between Taipei, Taiwan, and Jakarta, Indonesia, starting March 1, the carrier said Monday.

In the not-too-distant future, though, the carrier will debut the newly designed cabin on a handful of additional routes, including certain flights between Taiwan and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

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Seats

EVA unveiled its new premium economy design at an event in Taiwan on Monday, suggesting the new cabin is more reminiscent of a "business class-like experience" than its current "upgraded economy" feel.

Like many premium economy cabins on international wide-body jets, EVA's new premium seats are generally reminiscent of the spacious recliners you'll find in a domestic first-class cabin — though EVA has equipped its new seats with some added bells and whistles.

The seats will use a "cradle motion" recline, which sees the seat cushion slide forward and upward. The setup is designed to give travelers more ability to lay back in the seat, while avoiding intruding on the legroom of the passenger one row back.

The seats are arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration, and passengers will find charcoal gray cloth coverings on the cushions, with sleek, dark (brown and black) leather headrests, armrests and footrests — and privacy wings on the headrests, as well.

Other 'hard product' improvements

EVA has also updated the inflight entertainment systems with 15.6-inch screens, along with USB and AC power outlets, and improved storage for personal electronic devices — on the tray table — and a water bottle.

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Which routes will get the new cabin?

While those amenities may sound appealing, there is one caveat: The new premium economy cabin is not going to be on many EVA jets, at least at the outset.

Starting March 1, the carrier will debut the updated midplane cabin on its Boeing 787-9 on flights between its home Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) in Jakarta.

EVA hopes to eventually deploy future 787-9s sporting the cabin on its Munich, Milan and Vienna routes, Sun said Monday. And the carrier's SFO-TPE route (flights numbered BR7 and BR8) will eventually get the newly equipped Dreamliner, as more jets are delivered to the airline.

"We will continue to study the feasibility of expanding PE class to other U.S. routes based on market demand and fleet scheduling," the airline told TPG on Monday.

A new generation of premium

Once a staple of its now-retired Boeing 747s and McDonnell Douglas DC-11s, EVA's newest premium economy design is the fourth iteration of the cabin since it first debuted for the carrier in 1992.

EVA faces an increasingly competitive landscape, with fellow Taipei-based carrier Starlux Airlines ramping up its long-haul flying in recent years.

For its part, EVA late last year announced its seventh U.S. nonstop route, with flights from TPE to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) launching in November.

The airline also has a sizable slate of wide-body aircraft on order this decade. That includes five larger 787-10 Dreamliners (which will not feature premium economy) set to join the fleet by 2027. And the carrier has plans for 18 Airbus A350-1000s scheduled for delivery beginning in 2027.

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On top of growing and improving its premium economy offerings, the airline is also plotting a new business-class suite concept for its A350-1000s and some Boeing 777-300ERs, company officials shared in August.

Booking EVA flights using points and miles

To book EVA Air flights using points and miles, you can transfer flexible credit card rewards to the EVA Air Infinity MileageLands program from multiple card issuer programs. You can transfer Citi ThankYou Rewards points to the program at a 1:1 ratio. You can also transfer Capital One miles to EVA at a reduced 4:3 ratio.

Another option: Find award space through one of EVA's Star Alliance partners.

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