Eva Air’s roomy new 787 premium economy seat

Premium economy remains the sweet spot for travellers seeking greater comfort and a better overall experience than economy, without the significantly higher price of business class.

Taiwan’s EVA Air is making the trade-up from economy even more appealing, while slightly closing the comfort gap to business class, with its new premium economy seat.

Eva Air's new 787-9 premium economy seat.

The seats boast a spacing or ‘pitch’ of 42”, giving passengers plenty of room to stretch out.

Eva Air's new 787-9 premium economy seat.

By comparison, Emirates’ widely lauded premium economy seat has a reduced 40” pitch, while most other airlines – including Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, and Qantas – settle for 38”.

Eva Air's new 787-9 premium economy seat.

And EVA Air has solid form in premium economy, having pioneered the concept in 1992 as ‘Deluxe Class’.

So it’s no surprise the Star Alliance member now has the roomiest premium economy seat in the sky, alongside the same 42" pitch of Japan Airlines’ latest premium economy cabins.

Eva Air's new 787-9 premium economy seat.

The seat itself adopts a ‘cradle-motion mechanism’ which sees the seatbase cushion simultaneously slide forward as it angles up, delivering a recline equivalent to 8” inches while preserving space for the passenger behind

Eva Air's new 787-9 premium economy seat.

This fourth-gen recliner is packed with other mod cons of comfort, including

• privacy ‘wings’ on the headrest fitted with inbuilt directional reading lights
• a generous 15.6” HD monitor with AC, USB-A and USB-C power outlets
• ample storage spaces in the armrests and seatback compartments
• headrests, armrests and footrests upholstered in premium leather
• business class-style amenity kits and noise-cancelling headphones

Eva Air's new 787-9 premium economy seat.

Oddly, there doesn’t appear to be Bluetooth pairing between the IFE screen and the passenger’s own headphones or earbuds.

Eva Air's new 787-9 premium economy seat.

Eva Air’s new premium economy seat are flying on a fleet of nine factory-fresh Boeing 787-9 jets, with a dedicated premium economy cabin of 28 seats arranged in a 2-3-2 layout.

Those Dreamliners will take on a series of premium long-range routes from Taipei to the likes of Munich, Milan, Vienna and San Francisco.

The same seat is slated to appear on Eva’s new Airbus A350-1000s, due to arrive from 2027, although the incoming Boeing 787-10s will retain a two-class configuration of business and economy.

Eva is also plotting an upgrade at the pointy end of the plane, with a fresh take on its Royal Laurel business class expected to see private doored suites crowing the A350-1000s and some retrofitted Boeing 777-300ERs.