EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) and Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) yesterday both launched “flight to nowhere” programs for next month’s Mid-Autumn Festival, hoping to offer passengers a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of the moon from a plane.
The latest offering follows their programs last month for Father’s Day and Lovers’ Day (also known as the Qixi Festival), in which tickets sold out quickly.
EVA said it would offer one evening flight per day during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4.
Photo courtesy of EVA Airways Corp
The planes are scheduled to take off after 6pm so that passengers can view the moon, it told the Taipei Times by telephone.
EVA is deploying its Boeing 787-10 planes for the four flights, which have 342 seats compared with 309 for the Hello Kitty-themed Airbus SE A330-300 planes that it used before, it said.
“The fact that a Boeing 787-10 aircraft has the largest windows among all wide-body commercial planes would be a selling point,” it said.
Similar to its previous programs, the Boeing 787-10 jets would not land in a foreign airport, but would make a sightseeing loop over Taiwan’s west coast and Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, EVA said.
The planes would descend to an altitude of about 20,000 feet (6,096m), compared with regular commercial flights’ 9,144m, to give passengers a better view, it said.
With tickets priced at NT$5,888 (US$199.4) for an economy-class seat and NT$7,888 for a business-class seat, EVA is forecast to make at least NT$8.32 million in revenue from the four flights.
EVA is planning to launch another six “fly-to-nowhere” programs over the Double Ten National Day, Halloween, Double 11 Singles’ Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day, it said.
“The revenue we make from the special flights would be nothing compared with those generated from our international flights prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, but at least those programs could help maintain our cash flow,” an EVA official said.
Meanwhile, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) plans to offer six “fly to the moon” flights on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2, using its A321neo planes.
However, it has not finalized its ticket prices and flight schedule, Starlux said, adding that it would not all be evening flights.
Tigerair Taiwan Ltd (台灣虎航), the nation’s only low-cost carrier, yesterday said it as still evaluating whether to offer such special flights, after canceling its Lovers’ Day flights due to lower-than-expected sales.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
PORTFOLIO REBALANCING: The adjustments in three global equity indices reflect rising investor appetite for semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related stocks Taiwan’s weighting in major global equity indices compiled by MSCI Inc is to rise modestly following the latest quarterly review, underscoring the market’s expanding role in emerging-market portfolios, as global investors continue to favor the nation’s technology sector. Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index is to increase by 0.30 percentage points to 23.76 percent, after the changes take effect at the close of the May 29 session. Its weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index is to rise 0.37 percentage points to 27.16 percent, while that in the MSCI All Country World Index is to edge up slightly to
The Hsinchu County Government’s Labor Affairs Department yesterday said that it has received a plan from cosmetics brand Taiwan Shiseido Co (台灣資生堂) detailing mass layoffs at its plant in Hukou Township (湖口). While the labor authorities did not disclose the number of employees to be laid off, Japanese news media earlier in the day reported that the closure of the company’s factory in Hukou would result in 170 employees losing their jobs. Shiseido followed the law by reporting its layoff plan, the department said, adding that authorities would closely monitor negotiations between the management and affected employees and step in if any
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Tuesday confirmed a cyberattack targeting some of its North American facilities, but said the affected factories were gradually returning to normal. The company, known globally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said that its cybersecurity team “activated the response mechanism and implemented operational measures to ensure the continuity of production and delivery.” “The affected factories are resuming normal production,” the company said in a statement. Hon Hai had previously described it as a “technical issue,” when news of the cyberattack first surfaced. The confirmation followed media reports of a large-scale information technology system incident that broke out at
RSS