In December of 2025, one of the most-hyped routes of the year began as China Airlines commenced non-stop service from its base at Taoyuan International Airport to Phoenix, Arizona, beating out competitor Starlux Airlines by a matter of months. Phoenix has long been looking for transpacific service and in less than a year, they’ve gotten not one but two of Taiwan’s major airlines to announce flights to the Arizona city. Currently, Taiwan’s oldest airline and flag carrier flies the Airbus A350-900, the most modern widebody type in the fleet, between the two cities on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
Server: Solo
Airline: China Airlines
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Origin: Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Dayuan, Taiwan (TPE)
Destination: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona (PHX)
Flight Number: CI36
Route: RCTP-KPHX
Seat: 17K (Business)
Time En Route: 12 Hours 5 Minutes
In the boarding area at Gate D2 for our flight to Phoenix. Been a while since we’ve flown on the A350 with China Airlines, but we’re glad to be back.
Taxiing to Runway 05L shortly after sunset. We’re in seat 17K, 1 of 32 lie-flat business class seats China Airlines configures its A350-900s with.
Heavy takeoff from Tapei this evening! Estimated flight time for this new transpacific route is around 12 hours and 7 minutes, according to the flight tracker on the IFE screen in front of us.
Approaching the bottom of the cirrostratus layer blanketing the East China Sea as we climb to our initial cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. We’ve got our seat reclined for the long journey ahead, which was quite easy to do. At 6 feet 5 inches, it’s well-suited for taller passengers like ourselves, and is well-padded with a pillow that feels almost as good as the one we have at home. A lot of airlines overlook the pillow, but CI is an exception.
Dinner is served as we cruise east of Japan on our arc of the Pacific Ocean. We ordered the American prime filet mignon with porcini port wine sauce, which was predictably delicious. After dinner, we’re going to switch off the accent lamp and the reading light, lie down, and get some Zs.
Dawn finds us at 41,000 feet over the Eastern Pacific. We had an excellent sleep and were only woken by a gentle reminder that breakfast will be served soon. Still have a few hours to go in our flight, but we’re very well satisfied here and are in no hurry to get on the ground.
Final approach into Phoenix. We’ve got company to our left, a UPS 767-300F arriving from Louisville as 5X858 several hours behind schedule.
Landing at PHX on Runway 25L. Due to the comparatively short length of the runway, we went to full reverse thrust immediately on touchdown.
Taxiing on the starboard engine by the parking garages. China Airlines uses the B Gates of Terminal 4 here in Phoenix, so we have quite a long taxi from 25L to our gate.
Deplaned at Gate B25. It was exciting to fly on such a new route and as always, China Airlines did not disappoint! We’re excited to try the route again with Starlux in the near future to see how it compares!
