EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) is planning to increase its weekly passenger flights from Taiwan to North America next month after demand rose substantially this month.
“So far, the number of reservations for round-trip flights between Taiwan and North America has grown 27 percent from June, and the passenger load factor is nearly 100 percent for both the business class and the premium economy class,” EVA chairman Steve Lin (林寶水) said at the company’s annual general meeting in Taipei on Friday.
From next month, the airline would offer five round-trip flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Seattle per week, as well as four to New York, two each to Chicago and Vancouver, and one each to Toronto and Houston, the company said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
EVA would continue to offer seven flights a week to Los Angeles, it added.
Overall, its weekly flights from Taiwan to North America would rise to 30, it said.
While demand for passenger flights to North American is expected to grow due to more people being vaccinated in the US and relaxed vaccination policies, the airline still expects a tough road ahead as market uncertainty remains due to the global spread of the more transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, Lin said.
Nevertheless, Lin said that the company would closely monitor the market situation and make adjustments to its operations if necessary.
The airline said that an increase in operational costs due to disease prevention measures might be taken into account when it considers adjusting ticket prices.
As EVA operates much fewer passenger flights than it did before the COVID-19 pandemic, rising fuel prices would not affect its passenger business as much as before, it said.
Meanwhile, EVA would take delivery of its first new Boeing 777F cargo jet in October, with another two cargo planes slated to arrive in November and December, Lin said.
The airline holds an upbeat outlook for its cargo business in the fourth quarter, expecting cargo rates to remain comparatively high given robust demand for cargo space from Asia to Europe.
The fourth quarter is traditionally a peak season for the cargo business, as many consumer electronic products, such as smartphones, are usually launched during the quarter, EVA said.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
RSS