EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday said it would change its boarding processes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing social-distancing measures without sacrificing efficiency.
After the carrier in the past three months tried several boarding methods and researched other airlines’ practices, EVA said it would adopt a window-to-aisle method for its wide-body aircraft and half-block method for its narrow-body jets.
The new boarding procedures would only apply to economy-class passengers, as the airline would still give boarding priority to those with business-class tickets, disabled passengers, pregnant women and babies, EVA told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Photo: Cheng I-hwa, Bloomberg
For its wide-body jets, which have 3-3-3 or 3-4-3 seating configurations, passengers sitting near the windows on two sides of the airplane would board first, followed by passengers with seats between the aisles, EVA said, adding that this would reduce the chances of passengers interacting with each other.
As for its narrow-body jets with 3-3 seating configurations, the airline said it would let passengers with seats on one side of the airplane in the rear and those on the other side in the front board first.
Calling the procedure “diagonal” boarding, EVA said that the method would allow passengers to place their carry-on bags in the overhead compartments without interacting with others.
The new boarding methods would reduce passengers’ boarding time, the airline said, adding that boarding for a Boeing 777-300ER with 350 passengers would decline from 25 minutes to 20 minutes, while the boarding time for a fully loaded Airbus A321-200 jet would drop by three minutes.
“The boarding methods are here to stay even after the COVID-19 outbreak ends,” EVA said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the