EVA Air to improve Indonesian service

JAKARTA (JP): EVA Air, a subsidiary of the Evergreen Group of Taiwan, will improve its service to Indonesia by operating MD-11 aircraft next month.

"EVA Air, which currently operates Boeing 767-300 aircraft in the Jakarta-Taipei route, is considering operating MD-11 aircraft which offers more seats," business manager of the company's agent in Indonesia, Paulus K. Soelaeman, said yesterday.

He said that each Boeing 767-300 operated by EVA Air is configurated with 252 seats, while each MD-11 has 275 seats.

"The load factor of the Jakarta-Taipei service ranges between 70 percent and 80 percent. In peak season, during Indonesian school holidays and in December, the figure can reach 100 percent," he said.

EVA Air which began its service in July 1991, operates three services to Indonesia, including the Jakarta-Taipei route (seven times per week), the Surabaya-Kaohsiung-Taipei route (three times per week) and the Denpasar-Kaohsiung route (jointly served with the country's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia twice a week).

Paulus said that the airline, with a fleet of 25 aircraft, currently serves 25 international destinations, including major cities in the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

"Early next year EVA Air will take delivery of two more Boeing 747-400-Combi aircraft. In the meantime, the airline has also signed with McDonnell Douglas a formal letter of intent for buying six MD-90 aircraft which will be used for domestic services," he said.

He said that EVA Air launched recently its first European air freighter operations linking Taipei and Amsterdam, via Singapore and Dubai. (icn)