Eva Air to shrink Airbus single-aisle fleet in push for big jets
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TAIWAN’S Eva Airways plans to cut the number of Airbus single-aisle planes in its fleet and bring in bigger aircraft as travel rebounds from the pandemic.
“We have to use wide-bodies because we can seat more passengers,” said Sun Chia-ming, who has been president of the airline since 2018.
“We are evaluating the future to replace some of the Airbus 321s,” he said on the sidelines of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines meeting in Bangkok. “Definitely we are going to shrink the size of our narrow-bodies.”
It has not yet been decided how many of Eva Air’s 24 A321ceo jets will be phased out. That will likely depend on the situation in mainland China, which remains largely closed off to travel due to its Covid policies, though Beijing eased some rules on Friday (Nov 18). Eva Air normally uses its A321s, which carry up to 184 passengers, for flights to smaller Chinese cities.
“I read some news saying it’s very possible that China won’t open up in the end of next year,” Sun said on Thursday. “That means it’s bad for us.”
He said the first priority would be take delivery of 11 Boeing 787-9s and -10s over the next two years. Eva Air’s dual-aisle 787s seat between 304 and 342 passengers. Once those are delivered, a fresh order of wide-body planes will be discussed.
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Eva Air will also gradually withdraw its 12 Airbus 330 wide-body aircraft from next year till 2029. It has a fleet of 80 passenger aircraft overall.
Taiwan’s largest privately-held airline has been profitable since the second quarter of 2021, when the pandemic was beginning to unfold, as robust air cargo business helped offset strict border controls, including Taiwan’s ban on transit passengers. The island scrapped inbound quarantine last month.
Eva Air expects passenger capacity to return to 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in 2023, from about 50 per cent now. There is no guarantee that its routes in China, which accounted for 11 per cent of pre-Covid flight capacity, will all resume when the border reopens, Sun said.
In the meantime, more flights are planned to Europe and North America, he said, without elaborating. BLOOMBERG
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