Taiwanese carrier EVA Air joins Alliance co-founded by THAI
Taiwanese airline EVA Air has entered the Star Alliance, aiming to capitalise on the network to promote Taiwan as a business and leisure hub and bring several new privileges to its passengers.
The airline recently held an official ceremony at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to announce its membership in the Star Alliance.
Founded 16 years ago by five leading airlines – Thai Airways International, Air Canada, Lufthansa, United Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines – the alliance now has 28 airline members.
“We hope EVA Airlines will help [us] build a strong market in the Asia-Pacific region. We’re looking forward to welcoming new customers from Taiwan |and serving more travellers in |the expanding cross-strait |market,” said Mark Schwab, |chief executive officer of Star Alliance.
The network has eight member carriers based in the region, which continues to show expanding demand for air travel, posting 5.2-per-cent growth last year.
There are 19 Star Alliance members operating more than 4,000 daily flights in the region, serving 280 airports in 44 countries.
“We want the network to |promote Taiwan as a hub for business and leisure. We realise the Star Alliance is the best choice.
It has 28 world-class airline members, so our customers |can take advantage of this opportunity,” said Austin Cheng, president of EVA Air, noting the network’s route-linking and transfer system.
“Our customers can enjoy 1,000 VIP lounges in airports around the world. We’re expanding routes to North America and we now have a ‘Flying Fun’ campaign with ‘Hello Kitty’ jets that is [winning praise from] customers in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and [mainland] China.”
THAI said it welcomed the new partnership with EVA Air, which would expand the market for the Asean Economic Community.
“It’s good that we’re making a code-sharing [arrangement] with EVA Air.
“We’re building a strong network to support expansion of the AEC market, while passengers will have more convenience and travel choices, and can collect air miles to exchange for a ticket,” said Danuj Bunnag, THAI executive vice president for the commercial department.
“We can share resources with EVA Air to keep the loyalty of customers. From code sharing, we can also expand the market in South Korea and Japan.”
On a separate matter, he |said: “In the future, aviation |is boundless. We plan to ex-|pand more routes and flights in Asia, especially in Japan, Russia, India and China as the main targets.
“We will receive 12 new planes at the end of this year to expand the fleet, plus, as a result of the termination of [the need for |Thais to buy Japanese visas], |we will expand our route to Sapporo from five flights a week to seven.”
He made the remarks at the same event announcing EVA Air as a Star Alliance member.
