EVA Air launches maiden flight to Dallas

Taipei, Oct. 3 (CNA) EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, launched its first flight to Dallas on Friday, marking the carrier's first North American destination in nine years.

More than 200 passengers were on the maiden flight, the airline said.

EVA Chairman Lin Bou-shiu (林寶水) and EVA President Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) presided over the inaugural ceremony, accompanied by several government officials including Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Deputy Transportation Minister Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) and Director-General of the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) Ho Shu-ping (何淑萍).

After the direct flight to Dallas, EVA Air said, the airline is the only carrier in Asia to fly to both Dallas and Houston, which it identified as a way to expand its reach in the North America market.

In the initial stage, EVA Air will fly from Taoyuan International Airport to Dallas three times a week, with the number of weekly flights rising to five from Nov. 18. Starting Dec. 15, EVA Air will provide direct flights to the American city every day, increasing its total weekly flights to North America to 94, providing more flights to the market than any other Taiwanese carrier.

Speaking at the ceremony, Lin Bou-shiu said EVA Air has operated cargo flights to Dallas since 1998 and as the economy in the city grew rapidly attracting many enterprises to invest, the carrier decided to provide passenger flights to the city.

According to EVA Air, Dallas, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the U.S., houses many multinational businesses, with more than 20 of the Fortune Global 500 establishing headquarters. Taiwanese investment has also been drawn to the city.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport handles the third largest volume of passengers in the U.S., the EVA Air chairman said, and the carrier also wants to serve passengers and tourists who transit through the city to other American cities or destinations in Latin America.

In addition, the chairman added passengers are also able to fly from Dallas to Taiwan and use Taiwan as a transit point to other destinations in Asia.

Currently, EVA Air flies to nine destinations in North America --Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Houston, Chicago, Vancouver, Toronto and Dallas.