EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), one of the nation’s largest airlines, on Tuesday received delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner passenger aircraft at Boeing Co’s delivery center in South Carolina.
It is the first 787 Dreamliner in Taiwanese civil aeronautics history and the first in EVA Air’s planned fleet of 787s.
The Taiwanese carrier, which plans to debut the long-range aircraft on international routes next month, leased the aircraft from Air Lease Corp, a Boeing statement said.
Photo courtesy of EVA Airways Corp
“Today’s delivery marks the first of 24 Dreamliners requisitioned by the Taipei-based airline,” the statement said.
EVA Air in 2015 announced an order for 18 787-10 airplanes, along with plans to lease four 787-9s and two 787-10s from Air Lease, Boeing said, adding that it is the largest commercial airplane purchase in Taiwan’s history.
A member of Star Alliance, EVA Air serves international routes with about 565 weekly flights.
Photo: Chen I-chia, Taipei Times
Boeing said that passengers on the airline’s new 787 Dreamliner would experience EVA Air’s new Royal Laurel business class seats designed by Designworks, a BMW Group company, while EVA Air also partnered with Teague to redesign its economy class seats.
To improve the operational efficiency of its 787s, EVA Air plans to use a variety of tools available from Boeing Global Services, including a maintenance performance toolbox, airplane health management and electronic flight bags, which are tablet-based solutions for pilots that increase cost savings by removing paper products, Boeing said.
The 787-9 is the second member of the Dreamliner family, and offers 20 to 25 percent better fuel efficiency per seat and lower emissions than the first 787, Boeing said.
As the longest-range member of the family, the 787-9 can carry 290 passengers in a typical two-class configuration up to 7,635 nautical miles (14,140km), the company said.
The 787-10 is a larger version of the 787-9, although the two aircraft retain more than 95 percent in common, Boeing said, adding that the 787-10 has additional seating and cargo capacity and has 25 percent better fuel efficiency per seat and lower emissions than the 787-9.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling