EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), the nation’s second-largest carrier, yesterday said it planned to expand the cargo terminal customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) services of its Sky Jet Center to cater to civil aviation passengers.
The airline’s Sky Jet Center at Taipei International Airport is an all-inclusive private jet terminal that offers CIQ services to business or private travelers, as well as management services for private jets.
Various international celebrities, such as Lady Gaga and Tom Cruise, have commissioned EVA to cater to their travel needs when they flew to Taiwan in private aircraft.
EVA has expanded the coverage of its CIQ services to general passengers, with related services expected to cover passengers taking domestic flights starting from next month, the airline said in a statement.
Following the Sky Jet Center’s acquisition of a certificate to operate premier business jets, EVA said the center may service a total of 200 aircraft a month in five years, from 80 planes a month currently.
EVA posted NT$10.6 billion (US$349.3 million) in consolidated sales last month, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier and 2.6 percent from a month earlier, the company’s stock exchange filing showed.
The carrier has been launching different services, either in the Sky Jet Center or in the premium passenger sector, to build up a niche market to maintain its sales performance and profitability, the airline said.
EVA also announced last week that it won two gold medals for the white wine and champagne it offered in its business class in a competition held by London-based Business Traveller monthly magazine, which examines wines offered by airlines.
In news for other airlines, China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), the nation’s largest carrier, posted NT$12.05 billion in consolidated sales last month, 14 percent from a year earlier and 0.5 percent from December last year, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空), which focuses on the regional passenger services in Asia, saw its consolidated revenue last month climb 28.58 percent from a year earlier and 13 percent from a month earlier to NT$975.98 million, the company said in a statement.
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