EVA Air becomes 28th full member of Star Alliance

EVA Air became the 28th full member of Star Alliance today (18-Jun-2013), which the carrier believes will allow it to cut operating costs through resource sharing while Taiwan's central Asia Pacific location will provide alliance airlines with more flight options. The membership will allow EVA Air to offer services to more than 1300 destinations in 190 countries, up from its current 60 destinations. EVA Air chairman Chang Kuo-wei, as quoted by CNA and China Times, said the carrier's decision to join the alliance was due to its belief that such alliances had become a trend and could save costs for members, adding it expects average load factors to improve from 80% in 2012 by 2% to 3%. Air China vice chairman Wang Yingxiang welcomed the carrier's membership, stating "EVA Air will add new strength into the Star Alliance network, expanding its network to Taiwan." Founded just over 16 years ago, Star Alliance has progressively built its presence in the Asia Pacific region and now has eight member carriers based in this region, recording a 5.2% growth in air traffic in 2012. At present, 19 Star Alliance member airlines operate more than 4,000 daily flights to/from and within the Asia Pacific region, serving 280 airports in 44 countries. Meanwhile, EVA Air announced it will release advertising in more than 80 countries to mark its membership in the global alliance. The commercial, featuring Taiwanese Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, will be used to promote EVA Air's services with the slogan "I See You". [more - original PR - EVA Air I] [more - original PR - EVA Air II] [more - original PR - Star]