EVA Air announced that the delivery ceremony of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will be held at Boeing South Carolina in Charleston on October 02, 2018. The new aircraft is configured for 304 passengers in two cabins, 26 in Royal Laurel Class business and 278 in Economy, and introduces brand-new seats and a new look throughout. It is the first of this model in Taiwan’s airline industry.

“The introduction of Boeing 787 Dreamliners is essential to our continuous pursuit of service excellence,” said EVA President Clay Sun. “We have adopted a more modern, globalized design concept and combined it with Boeing’s latest aviation technologies to create a luxurious cabin environment and provide all our passengers with an even more comfortable flying experience.”

From luxury cars to a top-class airline cabin
EVA chose Designworks, a BMW Group company, to synchronize the airline’s international brand image and the Dreamliner’s unique craftsmanship into the design of this latest generation of Royal Laurel Class seats. The design team stepped away from conventional aircraft design and used core concepts of space and brand to create tailor-made business class seats seamlessly integrated into a bespoke cabin environment. The team used mature, muted colors to enhance the feeling of a comfortable, spacious environment.
EVA’s new Royal Laurel Class business cabin seats are 23 in. (58.4 cm) wide and recline into flat-bed positions that can stretch out to as much as 76 in. (193 cm) long, enabling passengers to lie down, get comfortable and sleep on long-haul flights.

“We wanted EVA’s business class experience to be fresh and memorable for passengers and to make service, design and brand all work together,” said Design Director Johannes Lampela from Designworks’ LA Studio. “Our goal was to take a proven seat platform and make it unique to EVA. From privacy, service, interaction, stowage and amenities, we explored the holistic passenger experience.”

EVA created more comfortable personal spaces by equipping its redesigned Royal Laurel Class seats with adjustable privacy panels and generous built-in storage cabinets. The airline upgraded the In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) systems with 18 in. HD touchscreen monitors, the latest noise-canceling headphones, extra-large fold-out tables for dining or work, auxiliary outlets and USB ports for recharging personal devices or accessing files from Media Player, Photo Viewer and PDF Reader. With these features and the warm, friendly service it is known for, EVA offers passengers a cozy in-flight space where they can work and rest.
Technology and fashion meet economy

EVA called on the Boeing Company’s long-time working partner, Teague, to completely redesign Economy Class on its new 787 Dreamliners. It selected a color palette that complements shades used in Royal Laurel Class and has created a cabin that is exquisitely elegant.

EVA selected ergonomically designed economy class seats from RECARO, the well-known German Automotive Seating company. It equipped seats with sophisticated leather headrests that adjust as much as 6 in. from the top of the seatback to the highest position. It added customized neck supports with functions, allowing passengers the flexibility to adjust the angle in six directions. It also upgraded the IFE with 12 in. HD touchscreen monitors at every seat, giving passengers more comfort and satisfying entertainment needs 30,000 feet in the air.

In addition to this first Boeing 787-9, EVA expects to take delivery of three more of this model and followed by its first Boeing 787-10 in the second quarter of next year. EVA plans to be operating a total of 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners by 2022. As soon as EVA gets its first Boeing 787-9, it will finalize preparations for putting the plane in service and work with Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to get it certified.
EVA estimates that it will launch the new Dreamliner on its maiden flight by the end of October 2018. It will fly the aircraft on its Taipei – Hong Kong route until its second Dreamliner is ready to deploy and it can extend the plane’s services to Japan. EVA will steadily expand Dreamliner service to more routes in its network as it adds more of the aircraft to its fleet.

About EVA Air:
EVA Air is a Star Alliance member and among only 11 SKYTRAX-rated 5-Star airlines worldwide. Readers voted it one of Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best “Top 10 International Airlines” and TripAdvisor awarded it top spots in five categories in its annual Travelers’ Choice Awards for Airlines. The carrier was established in 1989 as Taiwan’s first privately owned international airline. It is part of the respected Evergreen Group and a sister company to global container-shipping leader Evergreen Line. It flies a fleet of more than 70 Boeing and Airbus aircraft to over 60 international destinations throughout Asia, Oceania, Europe and North America where gateways are Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. Travelers can learn more about EVA and schedule, book and buy tickets at www.evaair.com.

Evergreen Group celebrates its 50th Anniversary today at the Chang Yung-Fa Foundation, home of the charity set-up by Evergreen Group Founder and Chairman Dr. Y.F. Chang. In addition to senior executives and employees of the Group’s businesses, the event was also attended by public officials, customers and business agents from both the shipping and airline industries as well as representatives of supply chain partners from more than fifty countries. The celebration commenced with a performance by the choir of the Yihsing branch of Jiahsing Elementary School from Hsinchu County. The choir was a gold medal winner at the 31st Franz Schubert Choir Competition in Vienna this June and their sublime singing reflected Evergreen’s passion and enthusiasm to connect the world and enrich people’s lives.

Evergreen’s gratitude for its past success and expectations for a more prosperous future are fully demonstrated within the design of the event banner. The green waves cross the 50th anniversary insignia and the rhythmic lines show the magnificent energy of the ocean, symbolizing Evergreen’s continuous breakthroughs and innovative achievements through its development. The compass represents the corporate philosophy of Evergreen Group Founder Dr. Chang, guiding the group’s employees to adhere to the company’s values and to conquer obstacles along the way, sailing full steam ahead into the future. The pulsating dots, meanwhile signify the vitality of each business entity under Evergreen’s banner.

Mr. K.H. Chang of Evergreen International Corp. delivered the welcome address. He thanked business partners and all employees for working hand in hand with Evergreen Group for the past 50 years and expressed his gratitude to the general public for the support and encouragement, which helped Evergreen to achieve the scale of its business today. He encouraged all Evergreen staff to remain true to Dr. Chang’s values, keep pace with the times, and work together toward achieving the next milestone – a centennial anniversary. He also looked forward to getting together with all the guests once again to celebrate Evergreen’s 60th birthday in ten years’ time.

Taiwanese Minister of Transportation and Communications, Mr. Wu Hong-Mo, noted in his remarks that Evergreen Group builds a comprehensive shipping network and international flight routes, providing quality transportation service to facilitate world trade and serve the general public. In addition to its core businesses, Evergreen Group is also devoted to charitable activities and giving back to society. He wishes Evergreen Group a prosperous development and long-lasting future.

Evergreen Group evolved from its operation in marine transportation. Evergreen Group Founder and Chairman Dr. Y.F. Chang, established Evergreen Marine Corporation on the 1st of September 1968. In the early years, the company encountered numerous hurdles, such as the fire that ravaged Ever Island, a lack of lending support from financial institutions and competitive monopoly of freight conferences. All these obstacles were overcome under Dr. Chang’s leadership and with the ‘Evergreen Spirit’ embodied in all his employees.

In 1972, Evergreen launched Taiwan’s first Far East-Middle East liner service, helping local shippers transport their cargoes to the fast-developing Middle East region. In 1979, it opened the Far East to Europe full container service as an independent carrier, breaking the monopoly of the Far Eastern Freight Conference. In 1984, Evergreen launched the unprecedented two-way, round-the-world container services. This turned a new page in the history of the global marine transportation, establishing Evergreen as the world’s largest container shipping line in 1985. Today, Evergreen remains one of the leading brands in the global shipping industry.

After building a solid foundation in shipping industry, Dr. Chang sought to expand Evergreen’s transportation service into the airline industry. On the 20th anniversary of Evergreen Marine, he announced his plan to invest and build the first privately owned airline in Taiwan, EVA Air. Dr. Chang once said, “Although it will not be possible for EVA Air to grow to be the biggest airline in the world due to the restrictions of air traffic rights, EVA has to be the safest and best airline in the world, following the example of Evergreen Marine in the shipping industry.”
Dr. Chang made huge investments in the establishments of EVA Air, including training centres, maintenance facilities and software systems, to make sure that its flight safety and service quality met the most stringent standards. In spite of numerous difficulties, including adverse smearing campaigns, the fledgling airline successfully took to the sky in 1991. In just a few years, EVA expanded route network to many cities across Asia, Europe, North America and Australia. The pace of EVA’s service expansion had been rarely seen among newly-established airlines at that time.

The airline owed much of its successful growth to Evergreen Group’s experience in marine transportation. At an early stage of EVA’s development, Evergreen Marine transferred many of its skilled employees to provide the professional talents needed to build the airline. EVA was able to obtain many of its air traffic rights thanks to Evergreen Marine’s business relations and economic contribution to the relevant countries. In the succeeding years, EVA has always been at the forefront of international airlines and has won much prestigious recognition for flight safety and service quality.

In addition to marine and air transportation, Evergreen Group has developed into a global conglomerate across sea, land and air, expanding its business scope into aviation technologies, international hotel chains and steel production. Within each and every one of Evergreen Group’s business entities, the astute management of their executive team keeps their business moving forward. The dedication remains to continue efforts to provide better service for customers and the community at large. Looking to the future, Evergreen Group will continue to embrace Dr. Chang’s corporate philosophy of generating profit, caring for employees and giving back to society as it heads into the next 50 years.