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.
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