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EVA Air to strengthen Japan network ahead of StarLux launch
December 14th 2018
Following delivery of the carrier’s maiden B787-9 Dreamliner, EVA Airways has announced it will increase its destination to Japan from eight to 11 next year starting from the second quarter. Read More »
The Evergreen Group subsidiary will begin a service from Taipei to Nagoya on June 6 and flights fromTaipei to Aomori and Matsuyama in the third quarter of the year.
In the interim, EVA will increase capacity to Tokyo Narita, Okinawa and Sendai by adding flights and operating larger aircraft on the routes. When airline’s 24 B787s have been delivered, EVA will boost its combined flight capacity to Japan by more than 10%.
“With more Boeing 787 Dreamliners being added to EVA’s fleet, we plan to reshape the Japan market and our global network strategy,” said EVA president, Clay Sun.
EVA operates 122 scheduled flights between Taipei and Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Hakodate, Sendai, Komatsu, Fukuoka and Okinawa. It also flies 17 weekly chartered flights to Aomori, Akita, Fukushima, Kumamoto, Matsuyama, Nagasaki and Tokushima. In 2019, following the launch of the extra services to Japan, EVA will be offering customers 146 a week from Taipei to its Japanese destinations.
From next year, EVA and CAL will face competition from StarLux Airlines, established by former EVA CEO and Evergreen Group heir, Chang Kuo-wei, The Boeing qualified plot decided to launch his own airline after he was ousted as EVA’s boss in a family-led coup in 2016.
StarLux will be “the new hope of Taiwan's aviation industry”, Chang has said. The new carrier will be a tier-one international full-service airline with a fleet of A321s and A350 and/or B787/B777X aircraft to serve international gateways from Taipei. The new airline will be headquartered in Taipei and will “convey a sense of luxury” and have its own MRO division, Chang said.
