Review: EVA Air B777-300ER Business Class (SFO-TPE)

After reviewing STARLUX Business Class on the outbound flight to San Francisco, it was time to pit it against EVA Air Business Class (also known as Royal Laurel) on the return leg.

From a hard product perspective, this is something of an unfair matchup. STARLUX’s long-haul Business Class seat debuted in late 2022, while EVA Air’s long-haul Business Class seat has been in service since 2012. That said, for better or worse, this is the experience most EVA Air Business Class passengers can expect for the foreseeable future. Although EVA has announced plans for a new suites-style Business Class, its introduction is still some way off, and fleet-wide retrofits will take several more years.

Besides, it’s not just the seat. EVA has a strong soft product, including designer pajamas, gourmet meals, and some of the fanciest champagne in Business Class. The question is: can these touches help it punch above its weight?

EVA Air B777-300ER Business Class

Boarding for BR27 from San Francisco to Taipei started on time, 15 minutes before midnight.

Today’s flight was operated by a B777-300ER, which had a total of 38 Business Class seats (there’s another variant with 39). These are split across two cabins in a 1-2-1 configuration that gives all passengers direct aisle access.

As I mentioned earlier, EVA Air’s current long-haul Business Class seat was launched in June 2012, and is now well over a decade old. In fact, this seat pre-dates its entrance into Star Alliance, if you can believe that!

Forget about doors, 4K screens, Bluetooth audio connectivity, wireless charging, or USB-C ports. This Zodiac Cirrus seat (also used by Air France and Cathay Pacific) comes from a simpler time, when a full-flat bed was all you needed in Business. EVA has done its own customisations, but I find the colour scheme rather frumpy (checkered patterns, in 2025?), and nothing at all like STARLUX’s sleek and elegant cabins. 

Cabin privacy is alright, because passengers are facing away from the aisle, and the shell of the seat shields you somewhat from looky-loos. It’s no substitute for an enclosed suite with a door, though.

If you’re travelling with a companion, you’ll probably prefer the centre seats which both face inwards. However, you’ll still need to lean forward to talk, as the privacy divider can’t be moved. By that same token, there is no additional divider to slide upwards if you’re travelling solo and end up in one of these seats.

Otherwise, the window seats are the better option, and unlike STARLUX’s long-haul Business Class, most of the seats here have unobstructed window views.

For this flight I took seat 10K, on the starboard side of the plane.

Business Class seats are 20 inches wide, which is definitely on the snug side, but you can lower the armrest for some extra space.

The seat control panel had presets for full flat, lounging and full upright, with the ability to control individual portions of the seat, as well as lumbar support.

In terms of storage, a backpack could be stuffed into the footwell area, though this space can’t be used during take-off and landing (and the crew were very strict about enforcing this).

By the side of each seat was an open storage shelf with an indentation for a water bottle. However, this again could not be used during take-off and landing. There was also a button-style remote, universal power outlet, Type-A USB port and — truly revealing the seat’s age — an iPod dock and RCA A/V jacks. That’s great news, if you brought along your portable DVD player or camcorder!

Remember how I mentioned that EVA Air has two different variants of the B777-300ER? On the flight from Taipei to Singapore, I had the other kind, which has a more modern touchscreen remote controller and two USB-A ports, and ditches the iPod dock and RCA jacks. The seat is otherwise the same though.

Additional stowage could be found down by your legs, but — you guessed it — it couldn’t be used during take-off and landing. So this is really an annoying design issue, in that most of your stuff will need to stay in your bag, in the overhead bin, until after take-off. 

Each Business Class seat has a personal 15.4-inch entertainment screen, which had to be stowed and latched during take-off and landing. The inability to watch anything during this period felt annoying, and I saw more than a few people simply unlatching their monitors after the crew took their seats for take-off. 

The bifold tray table was stowed beneath the armrest. It wasn’t possible to push this away to exit the seat during mealtimes (note how the front will be blocked by the shell of the seat in front of you), but you could slide out after lowering the armrest. The tray table was sturdy enough for laptop use, with hardly any flex when typing.

EVA Air did not install individual air nozzles on its B777-300ERs, so unfortunately there’s no way of manually adjusting the temperature if you feel warm. That said, the cabin felt pleasantly cooled throughout the entire flight. 

Overall, the seat was comfortable enough, though nowhere near what STARLUX has to offer. For that matter, I don’t even consider it EVA Air’s “best” Business Class seat, as the regional Business Class on its B787s is much nicer. 

Amenities

EVA Air Business Class passengers receive amenity kits from Giorgio Armani.

• Flights out of Taipei get a black pebble-grain hard case with a Giorgio Armani coin purse
• Flights into Taipei get a black vintage bag with a Giorgio Armani keychain

The kit also has a toothbrush kit, earplugs, foldable comb, and skincare products from Jurlique.

As for sleepwear, EVA Air Business Class passengers receive a pair of “athleisure” pajamas and slippers created by fashion designer Jason Wu. These were incredibly comfortable and were made with a material that breathes well. For my money, EVA has some of the best Business Class pajamas of any airline.

Rounding out the amenities was a plush duvet, which wasn’t particularly pretty to look at, but did a great job of keeping me warm.

A small bottle of Evian was provided to each passenger. By the way, it’s quite common for Evian to be served without the label these days, as part of efforts to minimise plastic waste (because nothing says “save the earth” like bottled water flown thousands of miles across the globe!).

Food & Beverage

Shortly after settling in, one of the cabin crew came around to offer a welcome drink. If memory doesn’t fail, EVA Air doesn’t serve champagne on the ground. Instead, it serves a cheaper Cava, with the good stuff reserved till after take-off, for tax reasons. 

Menus were also distributed, though it’s a shame that EVA has ditched its colourful menus for something much more monochrome. 

On this flight, supper would be served shortly after take-off, with breakfast before landing.

Business Class passengers can pre-order their meal online between 21 days and 24 hours before departure, which includes some options that aren’t available onboard (denoted by the fork and spoon icon).

Supper began with a starter of salad with lobster, creme fraiche and pesto, together with a grilled scallop topped with salmon roe. I didn’t care for the veggies, but the lobster and scallop were fantastic.

Like STARLUX, EVA Air also serves Isigny Sainte-Mere butter, which is some of the best you’ll find.

I followed this up with another lobster dish from the online menu, sauteed with ginger and scallion and accompanied with egg fried rice. The lobster meat was fresh and sweet, and I wish Singapore Airlines would serve theirs this way instead of drowning it in butter and cream.

Supper closed with a lemon meringue tart and sliced fruits.

EVA Air has a reputation for serving some of the most expensive champagne of any airline in Business Class, and on this flight it was Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015. This retails for S$348 in Singapore, and I thought it very much lived up to the price tag. EVA has also served Piper-Heidsieck Rare and Dom Perignon in the past, which is pretty amazing.

The rest of the wines weren’t bad either:

• 2019 Chateau Marquis De Terme
• 2016 Conde Valdemar Reserva
• 2022 Famille Brocard Chablis Vieilles Vignes
• 2018 Weingut von Hövel Oberemmeler Hütte Riesling Kabinett

That said, I felt the rest of the drinks selection was less exciting compared to STARLUX, which offers boba tea latte, St.1 coffee and cold pressed juice.

The snack menu was limited to instant noodles, sandwiches and dim sum. I went for the dim sum, which consisted of a shrimp dumpling, turnip cake and beancurd skin roll with shrimp filling and XO sauce. It was very average, and nowhere near the quality of STARLUX’s snacks.

A snack station was set up in the middle galley, with help-yourself bottles of Evian together with biscuits, cheese, dried fruits and corn nibbles. 

Breakfast started with a fruit plate, and for the main I chose the eggs benedict, served with bacon, grilled vegetables and sauteed spinach. I was extremely impressed the yolks were still slightly runny, and not nuked into oblivion as is often the case on airlines.

Inflight Entertainment

EVA Air’s inflight entertainment system is called Star Gallery, and while it works perfectly fine, the UX feels very last decade. 

The movies available weren’t the most recent, and the selection definitely wasn’t as large as you’d find on KrisWorld or Emirates ICE. If you’re fussy about what you watch, I’d recommend bringing your own. 

I watched The Substance, which as you can imagine was heavily edited for an airplane environment. I’ll never look at eggs the same way again!

Noise-cancelling “Thunder by EVA Air” headphones were provided, basically the same model the airline has been using for more than a decade. These were comfortable to wear for extended periods, though nothing fantastic.

Wi-Fi

In July 2025, EVA Air introduced free Wi-Fi for all passengers, a promotion which is currently scheduled to run until 31 March 2026.

After this promotion ends, Wi-Fi access will be based on cabin and frequent flyer membership.

If you’re in Business Class, you’ll enjoy free unlimited web browsing, period. However, if you’re in Premium Economy or Economy, you must attach an EVA Air frequent flyer membership to your ticket to enjoy unlimited web browsing, or unlimited texting, if you’re a Silver/Green member in Economy. 

At the time of my flight (April 2025), however, Wi-Fi was still on a paid basis. And while the first 30 minutes were free, it got very expensive after that. 300MB would cost you US$29.95, and an unlimited plan would cost US$39.95.

The speed was what you’d expect from a non-Starlink connection- passable in some areas, unusable in others. 

Sleep Experience

As this was a red-eye flight, the crew went around prior to take-off asking passengers if they’d like their mattress pad to be added now, allowing them to sleep as soon as the flight departed. I took them up on this offer, if only to save some time later. 

EVA Air may not have a fancy bedding partner, but its sleep setup is among the best of them. The padded mattress, fluffy pillow and plush duvet gave me a great night’s sleep. While the footwell did narrow a bit towards the front, you’d have to be very tall for it to affect you.

EVA opted to install Boeing’s star-like LEDs across its ceiling panels, which give the impression of watching the night sky. Some people find it cheesy, but I rather like the effect.

Service

Service on this flight was friendly and efficient, though if you fly Singapore Airlines often enough, you’ll come to take for granted little touches they do, like quickly removing any plastic trash, or nipping into the bathrooms ahead of you to make sure it’s presentable. That didn’t really happen here, nor were passengers addressed by name.

Lavatories

The 38 Business Class passengers share a total of three lavatories, one at the front of the cabin and two at the rear. There wasn’t anything fancy here — no spa music like on STARLUX — but at least they were kept clean throughout the flight.

The lavatory was stocked with Ideology amenities, including body lotion, aroma mist, hand wash and facial mist. 

Conclusion

While EVA Air’s long-haul Business Class seat really impressed me the last time I flew it in 2016, it doesn’t hold up so well a decade later. This seat, quite simply, is a generation out of date, and can’t hold a candle to STARLUX’s modern product. An upgraded seat is on the horizon, but if you’re flying with EVA Air over the next few years, this is pretty much what you should expect. 

Where EVA can punch above its weight is the soft product, and I’d consider their wine list, amenity kit and sleeper suit to be superior to STARLUX’s. I mean, in terms of champagne it’s not even a fair fight, as the stuff that EVA serves would be more at home in First Class than Business. 

So I’m really hoping they can do something great with their next-generation seat, and roll it out as quickly as possible (though that’s easier said than done given the supply chain problems facing many airlines). Until then, STARLUX definitely has the upper hand, though I’m more likely to fly with EVA again simply because it’s easier to redeem for someone based in Singapore.