What is Eva Air?

EVA Air 長榮航空
IATA BR	ICAO EVA	Callsign EVA
Founded		1989
Hubs		Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport
Focus cities		Suvarnabhumi Airport Kaohsiung International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Evergreen Club
Member lounge		Evergreen Lounge
Fleet size		50 (8 orders)
Destinations		45
Parent company		EVA Airways Corporation
Company slogan		Sharing the World, Flying Together
Headquarters		Taoyuan, Taiwan
Key people		Dr. Chang Yung-Fa (Chairman)
Website: [1]

EVA Air (Chinese:長榮航空 Chángróng Hángkōng) is a Taiwanese airline based at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan, operating passenger and dedicated cargo services to international destinations in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and North America. An affiliate of shipping conglomerate Evergreen Group,^[1] EVA Air is the largest privately owned Taiwanese airline.^[2] Its headquarters are located in Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Since its founding in 1989, EVA Air has expanded to include air cargo, airline catering, ground handling, aviation engineering, and tour package services. Its cargo arm, EVA Air Cargo, links with the Evergreen worldwide shipping network on sea and land. Its domestic and regional subsidiary, UNI Airways, operates an extensive intra-Taiwanese shorthaul network. Its main international rival is China Airlines.

EVA Air is a pioneer of the premium economy class, which it debuted in 1991.^[2] EVA was also the first Taiwanese airline to be accredited by the IATA with the IOSA (IATA Operations Safety Audit) for its safety practices and is ranked as one of the world's safest airlines by AERO International, a German aviation magazine.^[3] The official pronunciation of the airline's name is E-V-A Air(ways). The airline's slogan is "Just relax, your home in the air."

History

The launch of EVA Air

In September 1988, during the 20th anniversary celebration of Evergreen Marine Corporation’s founding, company chairman Chang Yung-fa announced his company’s intentions to establish Taiwan’s first private international airline. The opportunity to create a major Taiwanese airline had just arisen following a decision by the Taiwanese government to liberalize the country’s air transportation system.^[2] However, the Taiwanese government required international experience and substantial financial backing for any company seeking permission for international airline service from Taiwan.^[4] With the Evergreen Airlines designation already taken, EVA Airways Corporation was formally established in March 1989. The new airline placed a US$3.6 billion order for 26 aircraft from Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, including Boeing 747-400 and MD-11 airliners.^[5]

Operations began on 1 July 1991 with a small fleet of Boeing 767-300ER aircraft featuring Business and Economy Class seating. Initial destinations from Taipei were Bangkok, Seoul, Jakarta, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. First year revenues reached $40 million.^[6]

In 1992, EVA Air launched its first premium economy class, Economy Deluxe (later "Evergreen Deluxe") on its Boeing 747-400 transpacific flights to Los Angeles. Flights to Seattle, New York, Bangkok and Vienna with the B747-400 soon followed. Featuring a 2-4-2 abreast configuration, wider seats with extendable legrests, more legroom, individual seatback video monitors, and enhanced meal services, EVA’s Evergreen Deluxe proved popular with the traveling public.^[2]



Established as the airline for Taiwanese people, EVA Air differentiated its onboard service by using the order of "Taiwanese (Min Nan)–Mandarin–Hakka–English/foreign languages" for its cabin announcements on every flight. This was aimed at attracting elderly Taiwanese passengers who have difficulty speaking Mandarin. However, EVA Air has already switched the order of Min Nan and Mandarin. EVA Air also used Taiwanese folk songs in its boarding music, most notably an orchestral form of "Longing for Spring Wind," adding a sentimental touch to passengers' journeys. (This practice continues today as part of a wider repertoire of songs performed by the Evergreen Symphonic Orchestra during boarding and disembarkation.)

By 1994, EVA was providing regular service to 22 destinations worldwide, and carrying over 3 million passengers annually.^[6] In 1995, EVA posted its first profit on revenues of $1.05 billion.^[6] Internationally, EVA Air's rapid expansion and success was boosted by its strong safety record, in contrast to its primary competitor, China Airlines.^[2] In addition to being the first Taiwanese airline to receive IOSA (IATA Operations Safety Audit) certification, EVA Air in 1997 became the only Taiwanese airline to achieve simultaneous official ISO 9002 certification in the areas of Passenger, Cargo, and Maintenance Services.^[3]

Expansion of EVA Air

In the mid-90s, EVA Air expanded into the domestic Taiwan market by acquiring shares in Makung International Airlines, followed by Great China Airlines and Taiwan Airways. On 1 July 1998, all three carriers, as well as EVA's existing domestic operations, merged under the UNI Airways title.

In 2000, EVA Air became the launch customer for the Boeing 777-200LR, the longest range airliner in the world. At the same time, the airline ordered four Boeing 777-300ERs. In January 2001, EVA Air ordered its first Airbus aircraft, the A330-200. In 2002, EVA adopted a new livery featuring extensive use of green, covering the aircraft below the window line.

In 2004, EVA Air converted its remaining 8 options for Boeing 777-300ERs into firm orders. The first Boeing 777-300ER entered service as EVA Air's new flagship aircraft in July 2005. EVA Air launched a comprehensive revamp of its cabins, introducing lie-flat seats in its new Premium Laurel business class cabin, and upgrading its premium economy product to the new Elite Class cabin. EVA also introduced a second slogan, "Sharing the World, Flying Together," with the launch of its B777s.

In recent years, EVA Air has grown to include pilot and cabin attendant training facilities, along with its Evergreen Sky Catering and Evergreen Airline Services ground support divisions. EVA Air has partnered with General Electric since 1998 to operate the Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation (EGAT), a heavy maintenance and aircraft overhaul service. EGAT provides safety, repair, and refit services for EVA Air and other airlines' aircraft, and has handled the modification of three Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter aircraft for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner program. EVA Air also offers travel packages through EVA Air travel services, UNI Holidays, and Evergreen's Evasión travel service, often via Evergreen Laurel Hotels. As of December 2005, EVA Air and its associated divisions have 5,089 employees, and EVA serves over 40 passenger destinations worldwide, with additional cargo destinations.

In 2007, EVA Air announced a nonstop Taipei to New York (Newark) nonstop service, to be operated with its new long-range B777-300ERs. At the same time, the airline withdrew passenger service from Taipei to Paris.

EVA Air Cargo

EVA Air Cargo, founded concurrently with the passenger operations of EVA Air, has grown to include facilities in Europe, Asia, and North America, and freighter routes around the world. Its cargo operations have diversified to include transportation of high-tech equipment and special care items such as museum artwork and live zoological specimens. EVA Air has stated its goal of achieving a 50/50 split in revenues between its passenger and cargo operations.^[2]

Following the establishment of its A330 fleet and the introduction of B777 long-haul aircraft, the airline converted some of its B747-400 aircraft to freighters to meet cargo market demands. The new B747-400 freighters have a payload of 114 tons with 30 main deck pallets; additional cargo shipment security is provided through a Smoke Detection System. EVA established its “European Cargo Center” in Brussels in 2003 and opened its “Southern China Cargo Center” in Hong Kong in 2006.

EVA has 43 weekly cargo flights to London, Vienna, Brussels and US destinations including Los Angeles, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Chicago, Atlanta and New York. The carrier also code-shares with international airlines including Air Nippon (a subsidiary of All Nippon Airways), British Airways World Cargo, Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo.

Destinations

Further information: EVA Air destinations

Most EVA Air flights originate out of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, its main hub near Taipei, Taiwan. Additionally, EVA Air and its domestic subsidiary UNI Air operate numerous flights out of Kaohsiung International Airport. A focus city for EVA Air outside Taiwan is Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, with westerly connections to all its European destinations.

Fleet

Current fleet

EVA Air will stop Super First Class service starting December 01, 2007.

The EVA Air fleet includes the following aircraft (as of August 2007)^[7] :

EVA Air Fleet

Aircraft Type	Number of Aircraft	Number of Seats	Super First	Business/Premium Laurel	Evergreen Deluxe/Elite	Economy
Airbus A330-200	11	252		24		228
Boeing 747-400¹	5	A:368 B:380 C:372¹	A:12 B:8	A:32 B:16 C:36¹	A:104 B:142 C:56¹	A:220 B:214 C:280¹
Boeing 747-400 Combi²	8	A:272 B:276	A:8	A:16 B:28	A:86 B:86	A:162 B:162
Boeing 747-400F	5
Boeing 777-300ER	7 (8 Orders)	316		42	63	211
McDonnell Douglas MD-90	5
McDonnell Douglas MD-11F	9

¹Boeing 747-400 refit configuration. All aircraft will be refitted into Premium Laurel, Elite and the new Economy cabins, with Super First and Super Business discontinued by December 2007.^[8]
²The Boeing 747-400 Combi in EVA's fleet carries four cargo pallets in the rear section of the aircraft. The passenger cabin and cargo area are partitioned with a solid wall. Selected aircrafts will be refitted with Super Business, Evergreen Deluxe and Economy cabins only (B configuration).^[9]

Special liveries

In October 2005, EVA Air launched a campaign with Japanese company Sanrio to create the world's first Hello Kitty Jet, featuring the popular Japanese character. Using the airline's A330-200, the exterior adopted a livery of Hello Kitty characters. A year later, the airline launched a second Hello Kitty Jet. This time the characters are portrayed as EVA Air pilots, cabin crew and ground crew. The interiors of the planes also adopted the Hello Kitty theme, on inflight products such as meals, boarding cards, on board amenities and inflight sales. Both planes were used to serve Japanese destinations.

EVA Air's third new Boeing 777-300ER was Boeing's center stage at the 2006 Farnborough Airshow in a static display. The aircraft, with its special 777-300ER livery, was leased by Boeing for a week to be presented at the show.

Future fleet

EVA Air has ordered 15 Boeing 777-300ER, with 7 already delivered. The airline decided against its existing three Boeing 777-200LR orders (stating that with the 777-300ERs it has sufficient passenger capacity), and the 777-200LR orders were dropped in favor of two proposed 777 Freighter orders.^[10] According to a February issue of Airliner World, EVA Air later also decided to delay any orders for the Boeing 777 Freighter because of lowered market growth due to increased fuel costs. Instead of incurring the expense associated with ordering new aircraft, EVA will instead convert six of its B747-400 Combis and two standard B747-400s into full freighters.

On May 10, 2007, EVA Air completed its first B747-400 freighter conversion – the first of a series of B747-400’s to be converted over the next two years (currently, EVA Air's B747-400 fleet comprises four freighters, five passengers and nine combi aircraft). The newly converted aircraft performed its first duty that day by flying to Anchorage and Los Angeles from Taipei.

New Cabin

EVA Air is transitioning to three classes of service: Premium Laurel Class (Business), Elite Class (Premium Economy), and Economy Class. Elite Class is also known by its previous name, Evergreen Deluxe, on older aircraft. Pre-refit Boeing 747-400 aircraft feature Super First and Super Business, which will be discontinued by 2008. Domestic and short-haul international services flown by EVA Air and Uni Air MD-90 aircraft also feature a short-haul business class.

With the arrival of the sixth Boeing 777-300ER into their fleet, EVA Air has introduced mood lighting into their Premium Laurel and Elite Class Cabins (with no plans to introduce this system on their previously delivered 777s at present). This system has been designed to replicate the natural light cycle outside of the plane. It also features a twinkling star system (similar to that on Emirates) which represents numerous constellations.

The first retro-fit Boeing 747-400 (reg. B-16411) came into service on June 16, 2007. The Super First Class cabin has been removed and the new Premium Laurel, Elite Class and Economy Class cabins have been installed.

Premium Laurel Class

EVA's new Business Class cabin, Premium Laurel Class, was introduced in 2003 with the A330-200, and expanded to more destinations with the debut of the flagship B777-300ER in 2005. Seats are pitched at 61" in Premium Laurel and are fully reclinable, converting to an angled lie-flat bed. Premium Laurel features a 2-2-2 abreast arrangement on all available aircraft (as opposed to the typical 2-3-2 arrangement in business class on other airlines' 777s and 747s). All seats are equipped with 10.4" LCD screens featuring Star Gallery, EVA Air's AVOD (Audio Video on Demand) entertainment system, and Premium Laurel passengers are offered noise canceling headphones. On long haul 777 flights, a separate bar area features a salad buffet and snacks. On selected flights, the option for special meals prepared by Din Tai Fung is available through their online meal selection service. [2]

Elite Class

Available on the B777-300ER and B747-400, Elite Class (777, 747) / Evergreen Deluxe Class (pre-refit 747) is EVA Air's premium economy product. These seats are in a dedicated cabin, with wider seating and legroom, and a seat similar to short haul business class with an extendable legrest. Seats are in a 2-4-2 arrangement on both the 777 and 747. On EVA's B777-300ER, Elite Class seats also feature an adjustable winged headrest, power outlets for laptops, 8.4" LCD screens with Star Gallery, EVA's AVOD (audio video on demand) entertainment system, and noise cancelling headphones. On the 747, the older Evergreen Deluxe seat features increased legroom and an adjustable legrest like the Elite Class seat, and includes a rotating six channel entertainment video selection without laptop power. Service levels in EVA's premium economy cabins are similar to Economy, but food and amenities are improved, along with the seating. In the summer of 2007, EVA Air had already introduced the new Elite cabin to its B747-400 aircraft, replacing Evergreen Deluxe Class.

Economy Class

Economy Class is available on all EVA aircraft. On the A330-200 and B777-300ER, Economy Class features a new seat design which provides more space. When the seats recline, the bottom cushion moves forward to provide the person in the seat behind more legroom. The new seat design also features adjustable winged headrests. Each seat in EVA's new Economy Class is equipped with Star Gallery, EVA's AVOD (audio video on demand) entertainment system. The pre-refit B747-400 aircraft feature an older style seat and central cabin movie screen. Following the refit, the B747s will feature the new Economy Class cabin, with standard seat pitch on the main deck and an industry-leading 36" of room on the upper deck.

In-flight entertainment

Star Gallery is EVA Air's new entertainment system available in all classes of service on the A330-200 and B777-300ER. This system features three languages - Chinese, English and Japanese. Audio Video on Demand (AVOD) is available in all classes, with around 40 movies and short features, interactive games, as well as more than 100 music albums. Programs are mainly in Mandarin and English, with additional selections in Japanese, German and French. The system used is the Panasonic Avionics 3000i inflight entertainment system. Additionally, all seats on A330-200 and B777-300ER aircraft feature with satellite phones. Since 2005, customers can send SMS text messages and emails to the ground using their personal handsets and seatback screens.

On pre-refit B747-400s, personal entertainment is available in Evergreen Deluxe, Super Business Class and Super First Class via an individual video screen with six channels. An individual satellite telephone system is available on request. Seatback video is not available on the MD-90s and in Economy Class on pre-refit B747-400s.

On the retro-fit B747-400s all three classes now benefit from the new "Star Gallery" in-flight entertainment system which provides all passengers with AVOD entertainment. The interface and channel selection is the same in all classes.

VERVE is EVA's inflight magazine and features articles in English, Chinese and Japanese.

Evergreen Club

EVA Air's frequent flyer program, Evergreen Club, awards members points based on miles traveled and class of service. Membership into the program is free. The program is divided into four tiers: Green, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. Points are redeemable for upgrades and free tickets. Points can also be accumulated through credit card use, rental car agencies, Evergreen Laurel Hotels, and other participating services. Membership benefits include a dedicated reservation line, Evergreen Lounge access, additional baggage allowance with priority handling, and discounts on car rentals and hotels. Evergreen Club also accepts miles flown on American Airlines and Continental Airlines, provided that the flights are booked and logged according to EVA Air frequent flier rules. ^[11]

Codeshare agreements

EVA is not part of an airline alliance but has codeshare arrangements with the following carriers:

• Air Canada
• Air New Zealand
• Air Nippon, Subsidiary of All Nippon Airways
• American Airlines
• Continental Airlines
• Qantas
• US Airways*

*Codeshare began with America West Airlines.

EVA also has cargo agreements with British Airways, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, and Air Nippon.

See also

• Evergreen Group
• Evergreen Marine
• Uni Air
• List of Taiwanese companies

External links

• Official website
• Fleet Age
• Fleet Detail

References