Taipei-based EVA Airways Corp. (BR) is eyeing Boeing 787-10 and 777X aircraft as it considers the future of its widebody fleet.
“We are highly interested in the 787-10 project,” BR president K.W. Chang told in Taipei on the sidelines of BR’s Star Alliance signing ceremony last month. He said he did not “feel so comfortable with the 747-8 for our needs.” Chang said he is also interested in the 777X, which could have “terrific” operating costs, he said.
Between 2014 and 2016, seven 777-300ERs will join BR’s fleet. The carrier has 12 Airbus A321 firm orders plus six options, and plans to phase out its eight MD-11Fs between 2014 and 2016.
BR, which expects to become a Star Alliance member by 2013, will not bring in its subsidiary Uni Air (B7) into the alliance. Chang said, “80% of UNI Air is inside the Island [domestic traffic] and said it would not benefit from the alliance. Instead, he said the carrier may “think about transitioning it into an LCC, maybe for services inside Asia. But so far there is no decision about this.”
UNI Air operates a fleet of 13 MD-90s, eight Bombardier Dash 8s and one Dornier 228. B7 has 10 ATR 72-600s on order, with deliveries scheduled to start in the third quarter.
BR operates six MD-90s, eight MD-11Fs, 16 747-400s, 11 Airbus A330-200s, three A330-300s and 15 777-300ERs. The average age of BR’s passenger fleet is 8.4 years. “EVA Air and Uni Air should operate about 100 aircraft by 2014,” a BR spokesperson said.
BR transported 6.7 million passengers in 2011 and has a staff of 5,400. Load factor dropped 2% last year, down to 79%-80%, compared to 2010. One of its strongest markets is the “cross straits” business to China, where more than 930,000 passengers were transported in 2010; the number should grow to 1.15 million this year, he said.
Article Source : ATW Daily News
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