Category Archives: EVA Air

EVA Air signs MOU for four additional Airbus A330-300s

EVA Air (Taipei) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Airbus for the purchase of four additional A330-300s. As with its existing A330 fleet, the new aircraft will be powered by CF6-80 engines by General Electric.

EVA Air currently operates a fleet of 29 Airbus aircraft, including 14 A330s and 15 A321s.

Copyright Photo: Yuji Wang/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-302 B-16333 (msn 1274) in the third version of the Hello Kitty special livery arrives in Shanghai (Hongqiao).

EVA Air aircraft slide show:

EVA Air intends to finalize an order for five Boeing 777F freighters

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston) announced today at the Paris Air Show that EVA Air (EVA Airways) (Taipei) intends to purchase five 777F Freighters. The commitment, valued at more than $1.5 billion at list prices, represents the first 777 Freighters to join EVA’s fleet and will be posted to Boeing’s Orders & Deliveries website once finalized.

The Taiwanese airline plans to use the new freighters to bolster its fleet in an effort to meet growing demand in the air cargo market.

EVA Airways currently operates more than 35 Boeing airplanes in its fleet, including 20 777-300 ERs. EVA is one of the world’s leading 777-300 ER operators with unfilled orders for 14 777-300 ERs – both direct purchased and leased. The carrier plans to grow its operational twin-aisle fleet to more than 60 airplanes by the end of 2025.

Image: Boeing.

EVA Air aircraft slide show:

EVA Air retires its last McDonnell Douglas MD-11

EVA Air (Taipei) today (March 23) operated its last McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flight. The pictured MD-11F B-16113 (msn 48790) departed Taipei (Taoyuan) at 0840 local time as EVA Air Cargo flight BR 606 to Anchorage. EVA Air was the last operator of the tri-jet in Taiwan. China Airlines and Mandarin Airlines previously also operated the type.

EVA Air operated the MD-11 as a passenger aircraft from 1992 through 2003 and was down to just the one MD-11F freighter for today’s retirement.

EVA Air Cargo continues to operate the Boeing 747-400 freighter. EVA Air is considering adding the more efficient Boeing 777F freighter in the future.

In other news, EVA Air on June 19, 2015, EVA Air will be launching new nonstop passenger flights to Houston (Bush Intercontinental) (IAH).

EVA Air aircraft slide show:

EVA Air retires its last Boeing 747-400 Combi

EVA Air (Taipei) today (January 5) operated its last Boeing 747-400 Combi revenue flight. Flight BR 868 operated from Taipei (Taoyuan) to Macau with the pictured Boeing 747-45E (M) B-16409 (msn 28093). This leaves three passenger Boeing 747-45E aircraft (B-16410, B-16411 and B-16412) which are due to be retired from passenger service later this year.

The unique combi model seats 28 in first class, 86 in business and 162 in economy with a special cargo section.

EVA Air continues to operate the Boeing 747-400 as a freighter for its cargo division.

EVA Air aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Asia-1/Airlines-Asia1-AE/EVA-Air

EVA Air to add Houston on June 19, 2015

EVA Air (Taipei) will open the planned Taipei (Taoyuan)-Houston (Bush Intercontinental) route on June 19, 2015. The new route will be operated three days a week.

Update: On December 15 EVA Air made this announcement:

EVA Air will initiate nonstop flights between Taipei and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) on June 19, 2015. The airline will start the new service with three flights a week and increase frequency to four on July 1, 2015.

EVA will serve the route with a brand-new Boeing 777-300 ER equipped with WiFi, the latest inflight entertainment system and SMS roaming service that passengers can use to send and receive short messages on their own mobile phones. The aircraft is scheduled for delivery in May 2015 and will be specially painted nose-to-tail with Texas–sized Hello Kitty and Sanrio characters. It will have 333 seats, configured with 39 in Royal Laurel Class business, 56 in Elite premium economy and 238 in Economy.

Further enhancing the convenience of its routing, the airline will fly the new Hello Kitty Jet between Taipei and Singapore in addition to using it for Houston service.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Now repainted from the special “Boeing 777-300ER” livery, Boeing 777-35E ER B-16702 (msn 32640) arrives in Los Angeles.

EVA Air aircraft slide show:

http://airlinersgallery.smugmug.com/Airlines-Asia-1/Airlines-Asia1-AE/EVA-Air

EVA Air plans to fly to Chicago and Houston

EVA Air (Taipei) wants to expand its route map with more flights to North America. The airline is planning to add new routes to both Chicago (O’Hare) and Houston (Bush Intercontinental) according to the Taipei Times.

Read the full article: CLICK HERE

Earlier this year EVA Air put out this statement on its North American expansion:

Starting in June 2014, EVA Air will increase North American service from 45 flights per week to 55, boosting frequency to Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver. By adding 22 percent more flights, EVA will also expand capacity, offer passengers greater convenience and provide more flights between North America and Taiwan than any other airline.

Since joining Star Alliance in June 2013, EVA has experienced growing demand for its services among business travelers. There has been a substantial increase in the numbers of business passengers flying the airline from North America to Southeast Asia via its hub in Taipei, Taiwan. Bookings for EVA’s Royal Laurel Class business cabin have also climbed. The luxurious service was launched on the New York – Taipei route in June 2012.

The average load on EVA’s North America flights surpassed 80 percent in 2013 and company officials expect bookings to keep climbing in 2014. It will accommodate this growth and the added frequency by taking delivery of three Boeing 777-300 ERs in the second quarter of 2014 and deploying the new aircraft on long-haul flights between North America and Taiwan. EVA will add the service in two phases. It will increase:

Phase 1

Vancouver from three to four flights per week on 2 June, 2014.
Los Angeles from 17 to 20 flights per week, New York from five to daily flights and Toronto from three to four flights per week on 4 June, 2014.

Phase 2

San Francisco from 12 to 14 flights per week and Los Angeles from 20 to 21 flights per week on 3 July, 2014.

North America is a major market for EVA. In addition to Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver, it operates five flights a week to Seattle/Tacoma. The airline has seen stable market-share growth in all six cities it serves, lifted by not only Chinese and Asian passengers but also American business travelers.

※EVA Frequency Increase in North America

City	Current Frequency	Added from	New Frequency
Vancouver	3 per week	2 June	4 per week
Toronto	3 per week	4 June	4 per week
New York	5 per week	4 June	7 per week
Los Angeles	17 per week	4 June/3 July	20 per week/21 per week
San Francisco	12 per week	3 July	14 per week

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. EVA Air is proud to be in the Star Alliance and is benefitting from the membership. Boeing 777-35E ER B-16701 (msn 32639) now displays the Star Alliance colors and is seen arriving at the popular destination of Los Angeles.

EVA Air:

EVA Air takes delivery of its first Airbus A321 with Sharklets

EVA Air (Taipei) of Taiwan has taken delivery of its first Sharklet equipped Airbus A321 aircraft, on lease from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). The aircraft was handed over during a ceremony in Hamburg attended by Chang Kuo Wei, Chairman of EVA Air, and Norman Liu, President and CEO of GECAS.

This A321 is the first of eight A321s with Sharklets that will be operated by EVA Air under lease agreement from GECAS.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-211 D-AVZG (msn 5806) painted in the Star Alliance color scheme became B-16206 when it was handed over to the carrier on October 22.

EVA Air:

EVA Air brings the new Boeing 777-300 “Hello Kitty” to Los Angeles

EVA Air (Taipei) has introduced its popular Hello Kitty jets to US travelers. EVA Chairman and airline Captain K.W. Chang piloted the first long-range edition of the aircraft painted with pop icon Hello Kitty and other Sanrio friends, from Taipei, Taiwan, on its first flight to Los Angeles yesterday (September 18). The Boeing 777-300 ER Hello Kitty Hand-in-Hand jet will be used on three of EVA’s 17 regular weekly flights from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) in Taipei.

EVA Chairman KW Chang initiated Hello Kitty jets to make flying fun and passengers love them. The new EVA Hello Kitty Hand-in-Hand jet marks the first time Hello Kitty is featured on an aircraft amongst her Sanrio friends. The bright display of 19 Sanrio characters are shown hand-in hand, in different shapes and sizes, on both sides of the fuselage.

The Hello Kitty jet experience begins at airport check-in with Hello Kitty boarding passes and baggage stickers. Onboard, flight attendants wear pink aprons with Hello Kitty designs and passengers use more than 100 in-flight service items including headrest covers, pillows, tissue, hand cream, liquid hand soap, napkins, paper cups, utensils, snacks and meals. EVA Air and Sanrio have developed new inflight service item designs for the Hello Kitty Hand-in-Hand jet, including a selection of limited-edition Hello Kitty duty-free products that fans can buy inflight.

In addition to the Hello Kitty Hand-in-Hand jet, EVA Air currently operates five shorter–range Hello Kitty aircraft in Asia — with regional flights between Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Mainland China and Guam. A member of Star Alliance, EVA offers more flights from Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver to Taipei.

Copyright Photo: Pete Morejon. EVA Air’s newly painted Boeing 777-35E ER B-16703 (msn 32643) “Hello Kitty – Sanrio Family” arrives at Los Angeles International Airport yesterday (September 18) for the first time in the new special livery.

EVA Air:

EVA Air joins the Star Alliance today

EVA Air (Taipei) today (June 18) joined the Star Alliance network, further strengthening the Alliance’s presence in Asia/Pacific. At the official joining ceremony held at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Mark Schwab, CEO Star Alliance said: “EVA Air has successfully completed all joining requirements and I can confirm that our Chief Executive Board (CEB) has now unanimously accepted EVA Air into our Alliance.”

Founded just over 16 years ago, Star Alliance has progressively built its presence in Asia/Pacific and now has eight member carriers based in this region, which continues to show a growing demand in air travel, posting 5.2% growth in 2012. At present, 19 Star Alliance member airlines operate more than 4,000 daily flights to, from and within the Asia / Pacific region, serving 280 airports in 44 countries.

Austin Cheng, President, EVA Air said: “Star Alliance membership gives us the privilege of serving new customers from all corners of the globe and introducing our passengers to the seamless services and status recognition that the Alliance provides. As a member, we have the opportunity to introduce travellers to new ways of connecting to destinations throughout Asia via our hub in Taipei.”

Star Alliance was founded with the mission of providing seamless global air travel for the high value international traveller. EVA Air’s customers will now have access to a global network of 28 airlines, operating more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,328 airports in 195 countries. In addition to bringing Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Surabaya in Indonesia as unique airports to the network, EVA Air expands the Alliance’s presence on the important Cross-Straits market, which has grown from an annual passenger volume of just over 3 million in 2009 to around 9 million in 2012. Moreover, Taiwan’s geographic location is such that it has the shortest average distance to all major cities in the Asia-Pacific region, making Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport an important hub in the region. In total, Star Alliance now offers 10 hubs across Asia / Pacific: Tokyo – Narita and Haneda, Seoul – Incheon, Beijing, Shanghai – Pudong, Taipei – Taoyuan, Shenzhen, Bangkok, Singapore and Auckland.

Top Copyright Photo: Star Alliance. The flight attendants (in their uniforms) of the member airlines welcome EVA Air at Taipei.

EVA Air:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Yuji Wang/AirlinersGallery.com. EVA Air is a big corporate sponsor of the Hello Kitty cartoon series and brand created and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. The third Hello Kitty logojet, in the form of Airbus A330-302X B-16333 (msn 1274) prepares to land at Shanghai (Hongqiao) (please click on the photo for the full-size view).

Star Alliance Members:

EVA Air becomes a new Airbus A321 operator

EVA Air (Taipei) of Taiwan has become a new operator of Airbus single aisle aircraft following the delivery today (October 31) of its first A321. The aircraft is being leased from Aviation Capital Group (ACG) and is the first of 12 A321s ordered by the US lessor. The aircraft was handed over at a ceremony in Hamburg attended by Chang Kuo Wei, President of EVA Air.

EVA currently plans to introduce 12 leased A321s into its fleet between now and end-2014 for operation on regional routes. The airline has specified a high comfort two class layout for the aircraft seating 184 passengers. EVA’s A321 fleet will be powered by CFM International CFM56 engines.

EVA Air plans to introduce the new A321 on November 10 on the Taipei (Taoyuan)-Macau route according to Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss. The first, the pictured Airbus A321-211 D-AVZD (msn 5354) at Hamburg (Finkenwerder), became B-16201 at today’s handover.

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