Route of the month - London to Taipei

Alex McWhirter looks at how new services can benefit business travellers. This month: options from London to Taipei. As one door closes, another opens. I am referring to the London-Taipei nonstop service axed last month by China Airlines (CAL). As that carrier departs, Holland’s KLM arrives. KLM is now flying Amsterdam-Taipei nonstop in place of its previous one-stopper via Bangkok. Granted, if based near London your journey time will be extended, but from the regions, the Amsterdam transit will be more convenient because the Heathrow trek is not needed. KLM departs for Schiphol from UK airports the length and breadth of the UK, from Aberdeen in the north to London (Heathrow and City) in the south, from Cardiff in the west to Norwich in the east. It is true that daily direct flights operate from Heathrow with Eva Air but these make a stop in Bangkok, so the journey time can be longer than if you have to change planes. However, direct flights do offer the certainty of same plane service. What Eva Air offers The Taiwanese carrier runs a daily B777-300ER flight from Heathrow with business class (featuring angled lie-flat seats), premium economy and economy. The journey time to Taipei, including the Bangkok stop, is 16 hours 25 minutes out, 17 hours 15 minutes back. What KLM offers The airline operates a daily flight nonstop to Taipei. The overall journey time to and from Heathrow (including the Amsterdam transit) is 14 hours 35 minutes out, 16 hours 50 minutes back. KLM operates a two-class B777-200 with business (angled lie-flat seating) and economy. A number of Economy Comfort seats offering extra legroom are bookable for a small fee. Other indirect options Routings via Hong Kong, either with Cathay Pacific throughout or a British Airways/Cathay combination, rival those via Amsterdam. Consider that Cathay operates up to five daily flights from Heathrow with 50- to 90-minute connections at Hong Kong. Return flights from Taipei offer a choice of day or overnight timings. Cathay’s shortest overall journey outwards is 14 hours 25 minutes, with the return leg as little as 15 hours 30 minutes. Both BA and Cathay Pacific offer first and business class with fully-flat seats. BA has premium economy, while Cathay will introduce premium economy next month on its London-Hong Kong route. Initially, this will feature selectively so check availability. Taipei must be the only major Asian destination not served by the Gulf carriers. Presumably for political reasons (see panel, right), it is absent from the networks of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways. Fares A bewildering selection of fares is on offer, with the price you pay depending on when you book and travel. Against the trend, indirect flights on the route can cost more than direct services. According to opodo.co.uk, return fares with all the above-mentioned carriers (bar British Airways, which can be substantially more expensive unless separate tickets are purchased for the two journey legs) start at £600 for economy, £1,234 for premium economy (note that premium economy may not be offered on connecting flights between Hong Kong and Taipei), £2,184 for business and £5,335 for first class (note that most Cathay Hong Kong-Taipei flights do not feature first class). DIPLOMATIC DEALINGS So long as relations between the “two Chinas” remain tricky, the airlines indulge in various wheezes so as not to upset the powers that be. In the past, China banned most carriers that served Taiwan from flying to the mainland. So when the Europeans operated to Taipei in the 1990s, they circumvented the restrictions by creating subsidiary airlines. British Airways formed British Asia Airways and replaced the Union Jack with Chinese script. There was also Air France Asia and Swissair Asia. KLM founded KLM Asia and removed the Dutch flag and crown motif from its livery. Today, KLM Asia remains the sole European carrier serving Taipei. Taiwanese airlines faced similar difficulties, but this time from the European end. Because few countries afforded diplomatic recognition to Taiwan for fear of upsetting mainland China, CAL and Eva Air adopted neutral liveries so they could land in cities such as London, Frankfurt and Paris. Eva Air was the first to remove the Taiwanese identity from its planes. China Airlines followed with a plum blossom livery. Flying nonstop between Europe and Taiwan also involves flying over mainland China. In these cases, Beijing would not grant overflying rights to a Taiwanese carrier unless it removed its Taiwanese identity. Even so, CAL’s routing over China was not the most direct. When it was operating nonstop out of London, the carrier allowed 13 hours 25 minutes to reach Taipei and a whopping 14 hours 40 minutes for Taipei-London. KLM’s flights take a different and shorter route, resulting in 12 hours five minutes for Amsterdam-Taipei and a flat 13 hours for Taipei-Amsterdam. Out of London, Eva Air acts smart by flying via Bangkok. It means it need not rely solely on London-Taipei traffic – it can earn extra cash by taking travellers from London to Bangkok as well as Bangkok to Taipei.