EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) on Tuesday said it would spend more than US$600 million upgrading 14 Boeing Co 777-300ER aircraft and buying engines with the aim of securing a competitive edge in the global market.
EVA aims to spend up to US$354 million on the upgrade, which is expected to begin in 2026 and involve making improvements to 14 Boeing 777-300ER passenger planes that are less than 10 years old, the airline said in a regulatory filing.
The work would include improving cabin seats, in-flight entertainment systems and the wider cabin environment, while adding seats for the airline’s “Royal Laurel” business class product to meet increasing demand, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
EVA also plans to purchase five Trent XWB97 engines from Rolls-Royce PLC worth US$282 million for maintenance purposes, it said.
The airline last month said it would buy 18 Airbus SE A350-1000 wide-body aircraft with deliveries set to take place from 2026 to 2030, as well as 15 A321neo narrow-body aircraft with deliveries scheduled for 2029 to 2032.
The introduction of the 33 new planes is expected to cost EVA about US$10.1 billion — its largest purchase deal ever.
The A350-1000 is a new Airbus long-haul passenger plane that EVA plans to deploy on services to and from North America, while the A321neo is the most popular narrow-body passenger aircraft for short to mid-range flights in the international airline business.
EVA has 86 planes, with deliveries of four Boeing 787-10 and nine Boeing 787-9 passenger planes, and one Boeing 777F cargo plane scheduled to be completed by 2027.
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