Flight Report : BR 186 Taipei - Okinawa
26 Dec 2025 : 1650-1910
Economy Class

This flight is the second of 4 legs on my redemption itinerary from Hong Kong to Tokyo via Taipei, Okinawa, and Fukuoka. I had an event to attend in Okinawa after Christmas and revenue tickets were over the roof expensive during the holiday high season.

With some miles remaining in my Aeroplan account, I was surprised EVA's inventory opened up. At 8000 miles from Hong Kong to Okinawa with a stop in Taipei, it was a fairly decent price.

Then I wondered what if I extend my trip and head elsewhere in Japan for New Year's. Adding a domestic leg to Tokyo would price the total itinerary to only 20,500 miles. This included advance seat selection as well as a checked bag.

My memory recalls long ago before Air Canada devalued its Aeroplan program, a Star Alliance redemption from Hong Kong to Japan would only cost 20,000 miles roundtrip.

With grey and rainy weather in Taipei, which is typical during the winter, I stayed in the airport for about 4 hours during my transit from Hong Kong. There was plenty to do here - I went exploring the uniquely-decorated gates at Terminals 1 and 2 as well as the newly opened Terminal 3 north concourse.

I also grabbed a late lunch. While the price is very reasonable by international standards and it looked like a pretty good meal, I've been spoiled by the wonderful food across Taiwan especially at the small mom and pop shops over the years so this particular meal is a fail.

My flight to Okinawa today would depart from one of the new Terminal 3 concourse gates.

The new concourse gates are numbered from D11 to D18 and it is quiet around here. As the departure time approached, a small crowd started gathering around my gate area. Apparently, the authorities are smart enough to put 2 Okinawa flights from 2 different airlines that depart within 5 minutes of each other at adjacent gates. I was initially confused there was a delay but looked closer to see that's the China Airlines flight leaving 5 minutes after my EVA flight. I went 1 gate over. The rest of the new concourse was pretty empty.

However, plane spotting was decent as many planes pass by the taxiway en route to take-off, and planes land behind that.

However, like the China Airlines flight, we ended up being delayed as well. So I would be delayed on both my EVA flights today. The explanation of the delay was due to ground operations, the exact same as the reason behind my delay on the inbound flight from Hong Kong. However, I don't know what that means and it's as good as not giving a reason at all.

At 5:20pm, the cockpit announcement came that it would be a 53 minute journey to Okinawa tonight. We pushed back 7 minutes later, almost 40 minutes delayed. With the rain and dwindling light, there wasn't much to see from my window seat. It was a long 19 minute taxi to take-off. Similar to my flight from Hong Kong, there was a crew announcement to sell duty free before we lifted into the skies.

One thing I noticed with both my EVA flights today is there is an announcement at 10,000 feet, which I presume would release the crew from their seats. At Cathay, I would hear a seat belt chime even though that light would still be on.

A sandwich was offered on this short flight but since I already ate during my transit and I expect to have dinner after arrival, I passed.

We cleared the clouds about 9 minutes after take-off at 5:55pm but we would start descending only 20 minutes later, coming into Naha from the south to land at 7:45pm (Japan is 1 hour ahead of Taiwan).

Japan is quite strict at their customs and they're just as concerned as the Taiwanese with foreign diseases that could impact their agriculture and livestock. This warning would flash on our overhead screens ahead of landing.

Okinawa is a popular Japanese resort destination and the airport is a sizeable operation. I was well prepared beforehand with my online arrival forms and QR code so it was a relative breeze to get through immigration and customs. It took about half an hour from stepping into the terminal to reaching the exit.

Most of the shops were closing up and it was a long walk from international arrivals along the long terminal building to domestic arrivals for the monorail.

Historically, Japanese transit systems are best navigated with an IC card, such as Suica or PASMO. That is beginning to change with Naha's monorail also accepting contactless. The airport is the terminus station and there was a huge crowd waiting upstairs. I couldn't get on the first train and patiently waited for the next one. Trains don't come at Tokyo frequencies but they're still crowded. Luckily, it's only a few stops to the city centre - a 15-minute ride.

While service on board was really good and there was even a meal for this short under-1 hour flight, I wasn't impressed both my EVA flights today were delayed. It's not typhoon season with decent weather everywhere so I might need to avoid them in the more turbulent summer months.