EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday said its average ticket prices rose by a more-than-expected 50 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic.
EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) attributed the increase to robust demand for long-haul flights, as well as business-class and premium-economy-class seats, as consumers embraced air travel following the easing of border controls.
Sun made the remarks during the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei Times
The number of flights operated by EVA has returned to 75 percent of pre-pandemic levels and might rise to 80 percent next quarter, the airline said.
The number of flights it operates to Europe has surpassed the pre-pandemic level, while those to the Americas and Southeast Asia are still recovering, it said.
EVA expects its revenue this quarter to grow further, after increasing 47 percent annually last quarter to NT$44.42 billion (US$1.44 billion), Sun said.
“Summer vacation will be peak season for the passenger business. We have seen strong bookings for long-haul flights from Taiwan to Europe and the US in July,” he said.
“The booking rate for flights in July has risen to 70 percent. We expect the number to climb to 90 percent in July and August,” he added.
Speaking about the cargo business, Sun said that freight rates have bottomed out.
Demand would rebound if central banks slow down their rate hikes, he said.
EVA shareholders approved a proposal to distribute a cash dividend of NT$0.8 per share.
EVA Airways chairman Steve Lin (林寶水) was re-elected as a board member and chairman, a corporate filing showed.
EVA reported net earnings of NT$4.49 billion in the first quarter, the highest of all time, or earnings per share of NT$0.84, corporate data showed.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in