EVA makes addition of seven more new 777-300ERs official

TAIPEI, Taiwan – EVA Air joined Boeing and GE on 8th May 2012 for a signing ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan that formalises the carrier’s plans to add seven more brand-new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to its fleet. EVA President K.W. Chang, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Senior Vice President of Sales and Customer Support Ray Conner and GE Vice Chairman John G. Rice signed the document. EVA Chairman James Jeng served as official witness for the signing.

EVA will purchase three of the new 777-300ERs from Boeing and lease the remaining four from GE Capital Aviation Services Limited. Deliveries are planned to start in June 2014 and be completed in June 2016. EVA is already operating 15 of the safe and efficient aircraft on its long-haul routes worldwide.

The new 777-300ERs will be equipped with the same efficient GE90-115B engines that power the 15 aircraft already serving as the backbone of EVA’s fleet. In addition to the performance advantages that these engines provide, EVA will benefit from reduced maintenance costs and increased efficiencies in its aircraft maintenance management.

“EVA Air is a launch customer for the Boeing 777-300ER,” said K.W. Chang, EVA President. “We took delivery of the first of our current 15 fuel-efficient 777-300ERs and introduced them on long-haul flights in 2005. Our flight records confirm the aircraft’s extraordinary performance and provide clear evidence that it meets both EVA’s high safety standards and operational requirements, leading us to adopt it as the backbone of our fleet. Deployment of the additional seven of these aircraft and gradual replacement of our other aircraft types with 777-300ERs will standardize our fleet and give us greater operational flexibility.”

EVA is configuring its 777-300ERs with 333 seats in three cabins, 39 in the luxurious new Royal Laurel Class business, 56 in Elite premium economy and 238 in Economy. As the new 77-300ERs are placed in operation, the airline will be increase flight frequencies on busy routes and replace the older aircraft that it now operates on long-haul flights to North America and Europe.

Boeing’s analyses show that, compared to other aircraft, 777-300ERs consume 22 percent less fuel, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 22 percent and cost as much as 20 percent less to operate. Faced with the challenges of the surging jet fuel prices that have hit the airline industry so hard in recent years, the fuel efficiencies of this aircraft give EVA valuable competitive advantages.

EVA serves a global network of 62 major cities on four continents, including 25 major cities in Mainland China and 21 key business and leisure destinations located all over Asia. The future Star Alliance member has one of the industry’s best-developed route networks in China and throughout Asia.