EVA Airways Corp’s (長榮航空) maiden flight on its new route to Munich, Germany, took off from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday morning, making it the carrier’s sixth route to a European destination after Paris, Amsterdam, London, Vienna and Milan, Italy.
Flight BR71, painted in a special Sanrio Co-inspired livery to mark the maiden service, took off at 9:40am with more than 300 passengers on board.
The flight was scheduled to arrive in Munich at 5:19pm.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
At a news conference before the flight’s departure, EVA Airways chairman Steve Lin (林寶水) said the new route would bolster Taiwan’s position as a regional transit hub.
“EVA Air is focused on the transfer market, and we hope to use this new route to bring Southeast Asian travelers to Taiwan on their way to Munich and travelers from Munich to Taiwan en route to other major cities in Asia,” he said.
Lin said that Germany is Taiwan’s top trading partner in Europe, while Munich is the host of Electronica, the world’s leading trade fair and conference for electronics.
EVA Air offered its first flight to Milan on Tuesday last week.
Also attending the ceremony for the maiden flight to Munich on Thursday were Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of European Affairs Director Vincent Yao (姚金祥), Civil Aeronautics Administration Director-General Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯), German Institute Taipei Deputy Director-General Dagmar Traub-Evans and German Trade Office Taipei executive director Axel Limberg.
Lin Kuo-shian said Taiwan is still working to establish direct flights to Prague as well as destinations in Poland, adding that he hopes airlines including EVA Air can extend their services there.
Steve Lin said the company is planning to launch flights to other European destinations, but those would depend on market planning and flight rights.
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