EvaAir Commences Operations

Also due to become a regular visitor to Australia (at presstime) is the airborne successor to Mr Chang’s maritime success story – Eva Air. Along with Mandarin Airlines (like Qantas’ Australia Asia Airways, a semi ‘non’ government carrier, owned 50:50 by China Airlines and the China Trust financial group), Eva was due to commence services linking Taipei with Sydney from mid to late September. The single low volume air route being served by three carriers is somewhat unusual though it is expected that within three to four years traffic growth should be such that the present 767s will be replaced with daily 747s.

Eva itself only commenced services in early July. As this is written the fledgling international boasted just three leased Boeing 767-300ERs with a route network linking Taipei with Seoul, Bangkok, Singapore, KL and Jakarta. Vienna also comes on line during the course of this issue as does, hopefully, Sydney. Services to both Hong Kong and Japan are also high on the agenda though Eva will have to overcome the always difficult bilateral requirements before these rights can be approved.

Though Eva presently has in inventory just three aircraft it does have an order book valued at $4. 5bn covering 28 wide bodied aircraft including up to 6 Boeing 747-400s, 8 767-300ERs and 14 McDonnell Douglas MD-11s. The 767s will primarily be utilised on Asian services whilst the longer ranging MD-11s and 7 47s will operate the ultra long haul routes to Europe and North America Eva in many ways mirrors the extraordinary growth of airlines, new and old, within Asia. Korean Air, newcomer Asiana, JAL, Singapore, T hai, All Nippon, Cathay, Malaysian and our own Qantas have all comfortably doubled in size in barely a decade. Eva, like Korea’s Asiana, is a product of deregulation. Taiwan now recognises that there should be a second (or more) international carrier flying Taiwan’s flag abroad.

The massive investment that the Evergreen group has committed to its foray into air transport is now approaching $6bn with technical assistance from a wide range of foreign carriers. Initial aircrew training is being undertaken in the US with advanced training via Alitalia. Australia’s new integrated schools are also bidding for a piece of the action and are likely to pick up Eva training contracts through next year. Cabin crews are also being trained by All Nippon while maintenance personnel are being trained in the US with assistance from Continental. Reservations staff are with British Airways and T hai International is providing experience in the vital field of revenue accounting. Added to the human infrastructure is a new 17 storey corporate centre near Taipei which is situated alongside a 14 storey training centre that also will include a 747-400, 767 and MD-11 simulator. At Chiang Kai-shek international airport, a 29,000 sq metre heavy jet maintenance facility is under construction.

About the only regret that the now ageing Mr Chang has about his airline is ironically, its name. Obviously he would have preferred Evergreen, though as most readers would be aware, this is already the name of a large US based air freight carrier and was thus off limits to the new Taiwanese airline. Eva also is staying clear of air cargo at this stage, indeed its first aircraft, the 767, has minimal freight capability even if the new airline had aspirations in that direction. However, management have not ruled out an involvement in bulk air cargo later in the decade and could link up with their maritime cousins with a number of potential sea-air scenarios for profit.

It isn’t every day that a new international airline launches services into Australia. And it’s even rarer when that airline is barely a few months old. Eva no doubt will prosper under what is truly one of the international transport industry’s living legends.

Its arrival, along with Mandarin and Australia Asia, signal a new era of co-operation between one of our most important trading partners and vastly improved access to a whole new market for Australian tourism and business.