EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空), the nation’s second-largest airline carrier, plans to increase flights to second-tier and third-tier cities in China in the second half of the year, company officials said yesterday.
The details will be worked out after individual Chinese tourists are officially allowed to visit Taiwan, probably before the end of this month, the company said.
“The company is looking for more passengers by increasing the number of cross-strait routes to cities in central and southern China, while enhancing flight frequency on current routes, especially for lower-tier cities,” EVA vice chairman James Jeng (鄭光遠) told a media briefing after EVA’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Association for -Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) announced on Wednesday that Taiwan and China had agreed to increase the number of cross-strait flights from the current 370 per week to 550 or more, because more Chinese tourists could head to Taiwan after the relaxation of current regulations that do not allow individual Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan.
However, EVA also expects the greater number of cross-strait flights to attract more Taiwanese tourists wanting to travel to China, Jeng said.
As a result, the airline is promoting different tours with a number of travel agencies, to increase the number of Taiwanese tour groups taking EVA flights to China, he said.
Jeng remained optimistic that the company’s business would rebound in the third quarter, after facing a difficult second quarter amid seasonal weakness and continuing high oil prices.
“We expect the price of aircraft fuel to fall slightly from this month, further increasing the company’s profits through lower costs,” he said.
EVA’s passenger load factor has gradually rebounded on routes to the US and China, as well as Japanese routes, with an 82 percent passenger load factor, company data showed.
This was the reason for the decision to increase the number of flights from Taipei to Tokyo from the current seven flights a week to 10 a week next month, Jeng said.
The company also plans to charter three A330-300 planes by the end of the year, to cover Japanese routes, while seeking to join an airline alliance and expand passenger capacity, he added.
Following yesterday’s shareholders’ meeting, EVA also elected new board members and Jeng was appointed the airline’s new chairman, replacing Steve Lin (林寶水), who is transferring to EVA’s parent company, Evergreen Group (長榮集團).
Shareholders also approved a plan to provide cash and stock dividends of NT$1 per common share, based on last year’s net income of NT$12.02 billion (US$417.75 million), or NT$4.06 per share.
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