First 787-9 delivered to EVA Air on 3 October 2018

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals

EVA Air has taken delivery of its first 787-9  (B-17881, msn 39295) via a lease from Air Lease Corporation (ALC)  at Boeing's South Carolina Delivery Center in Charleston on 2 October 2018. On 3 October 2018, the aircraft takes off for Taoyuan International Airport where EVA Air and the airport welcome it with the canon salute and the reception ceremony on 4 October.

According to EVA Air, it plans to debut the 787-9 by end of October 2018 at the beginning of November on the Taoyuan - Hong Kong route. It will continue to operate the 787-9 on its busy route to Hong Kong until it receives another B787-9 to operate services to Japan. 

EVA Air has the total order for 24 Boeing Dreamliners including 18 787-10s,  4 787-9s and 2 787-10s on lease from ALC. This is the largest commercial airplane acquisition in Taiwan's history. These Dreamliners will gradually be introduced on routes to Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Suvarnabhumi and Europe.

Built with lightweight composite materials and powered by advanced GEnx engines from General Electric (GE) Aviation, the 787 Dreamliner family lowers operating costs by more than 20 percent compared to previous airplanes, and nearly 10 percent compared to today's competing jets.

Onboard EVA Air's new 787 Dreamliner, passengers can experience its new Royal Laurel Class (Business Class) seats (above) designed by Designworks, a BMW Group company. At 23 inches wide per seat, the Royal Laurel Class seats have 18-inch multi-touch screens, extra-large fold-out tables, adjustable privacy blinds and generous built-in storage cabinets offering passengers cosy space to work and rest. With a blend of modern technology, these seats with full lie-flat capability and enhanced inflight entertainment system are elegant.

The Economy Class seats of EVA Air's 787-9 below are redesigned by EVA Air and Teague and built ergonomically by Recaro the well-known German Automotive seating company. Featuring leather headrests it can adjust as much as six inches while the angle can be adjusted in six directions and an upgraded inflight entertainment system with a 12-inch touchscreen HD monitor aims to bring more comfort and satisfying inflight entertainment to the passenger.

To improve the operational efficiency of its 787s, EVA Air plans to use a variety of Boeing Global Services tools, including Maintenance Performance Toolbox, Airplane Health Management and the electronic flight bag product.

The airline will also use Component Services, where Boeing and its partners own, manage and maintain a global pool of high-value rotable parts, components and line-replaceable units (LRU) for convenient access.

Images: Boeing and EVA Air.