EVA Airways and the city of Houston celebrated the 10th anniversary of the airline’s route between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the city on Thursday.
At the celebratory news conference held at Houston Zoo, Houston Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum issued a proclamation announcing the day as Houston’s 10th Anniversary of EVA Houston - Taipei Route Day.
She also expressed the city’s gratitude to the airline for the flights that have contributed to Houston’s development and economic abilities.
Photo: CNA
Speaking at the event, EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said EVA is the only Taiwanese airline to offer direct flights to Houston, with the service increasing from three to seven flights per week over the past 10 years.
Load factors for the flights have remained at about 90 percent over that time, he said, as the airline’s dense network enables travelers to connect to major Asian cities from Taipei.
Other speakers highlighted the growing ties between the two sides.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston Director Yvonne Hsiao (蕭伊芳) said trade between Taiwan and Houston grew from US$1.1 billion in 2015 to US$11.1 billion last year.
Meanwhile, Houston Zoo is gifting a male bongo antelope to Taipei Zoo to mate with its five female bongos and help breed the critically endangered species, Houston Zoo vice president Kevin Hodge said.
The initiative also celebrates the sister zoo partnership since 2023 and the 64th anniversary of the two cities’ sister-city relationship, Hodge said.
To celebrate sister-city ties, EVA Airways is partnering with Taipei on a tourism campaign that invites Houston residents to take a direct flight to Taipei and “experience the city’s unique charm,” the airline said in a statement issued yesterday.
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS