EVA's staff including President, Austin Cheng & Chang Kuo-wei, Chairman (front centre) give the thumbs up
Ihssane Mounir, S.V.P. - NE Asia, Boeing; EVA's Austin Cheng & Chang Kuo-wei; Xiang Weiming, GM, GE Aviation; Boeing's Sales Director, Roland Ramirez
EVA's Austin Cheng checks out the new Elite Class seats
Dual delivery of EVA's 16th & 17th B777-300ER aircraft
Apparently, the Chinese word for happiness, ShuÄngxÇ, comprises the symbols for joy, used twice - so it was a joyous occasion when EVA Airways took delivery of its 16th and 17th B777-300ER aircraft at Boeing’s Everett, Washington plant. This rare twin delivery was marked by a ribbon cutting ceremony presided over by EVA’s Chairman Chang Kuo-wei and President Austin Cheng, plus officials from Boeing. Besides EVA’s top brass, over 30 journalists from Taiwan were also flown in for this event. Why all the hype?
These aircraft are the 1st in Eva Air’s fleet to feature eX3, a new state-of-the-art Panasonic inflight entertainment system and the Global Communications Suite. Since many pax these days are hard pressed to be off-line ever, these aircraft will feature SMS roaming services, enabling guests to receive and send text messages on their cellphones. Plus, Sky Wi-Fi allows e-mail access, the use of instant messaging apps and the ability to keep up with social media. Cost for this service starts from $11.95 US.
The rest of Eva’s 15 B777-300ERs will be retrofitted with Wi-Fi facilities within the next 2 years.
Other tech products that will be introduced before the year-end include electronic menus for meals and duty-free shopping using the touch screen TV system onboard.
EVA is also increasing their North American services with added frequencies to YVR, YYZ - both increasing to 4 times weekly. LAX, JFK and SFO will also see increased service with these newest aircraft operating on the LAX and JFK routes.
After the delivery ceremony, the Taiwanese guests hopped onboard one of the planes for their flight home... a great way to sample the product 1st hand for the 10 hours of flying time.
“This is definitely good news for today’s tech-inclined passenger,” said a Vancouver-based travel agent.
