Eva Air has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner, equipped with its new Royal Laurel class business class seats.
The Royal Laurel class seats are designed by Designworks, a BMW Group company. At 23 inches wide, the new seats feature privacy panels, full lie-flat capabilities as well as enhanced in-flight entertainment systems. Eva Air also partnered with Teague, to redesign its economy class seats, which are produced by Recaro.
At 224 feet long (68 metres), Eva Air’s 787-10 can serve 342 passengers in a two-class configuration, which is 38 more seats than Eva Air’s 787-9 Dreamliner.
The Taiwanese airline will deploy the aircraft, which is the first of 20 it is set to receive, on intra-Asian routes this summer. Eva Air already operates a fleet of four 787-9 Dreamliners.
A member of Star Alliance, Eva Air serves international routes with approximately 565 weekly flights. According to Routes Online, the new 787-10 will fly the following routes:
| From | To | Effective | Frequency |
| Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) | Hangzhou (HGH) | July 5, 2019 | 2x weekly (3x weekly from July 18, 2019) |
| Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) | Hong Kong (HKG) | June 28, 2019 | Daily (frequency varies from July 2, 2019) |
| Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) | Macau (MFM) | July 26, 2019 | Single flight on July 26, 2019 |
| Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) | Osaka Kansai (KIX) | July 12, 2019 | 8x weekly |
| Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) | Shenzhen Bao’an (SZX) | July 15, 2019 | 1x weekly (operating for UNI Air) |
| Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) | Tokyo Narita (NRT) | July 29, 2019 | Daily |
As Business Traveller Asia-Pacific reported in May, passengers on Eva Air’s Vancouver service will be able to experience the airline’s new business class product on its 787-9 from February 2020.
On June 6 2020, Eva Air is also bringing back its Nagoya service, which it last flew non-stop back in 2012. Passengers on that flight, to be operated by a 787-9, will also be able to experience the new business class product.
However, the 787-10 offers around 15 per cent more cabin space than the 787-9, according to Boeing.
“With their 777-300ERs, 787-9s and now the 787-10, Eva Air will have an incredible widebody family to serve its passengers and grow its international network for many years to come,” said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of commercial sales and marketing at Boeing.
In separate news, Eva Air has been contending with disruptions caused by a flight attendants union strike, as has been widely reported in the local Taiwanese media. Taiwan News said the 787-10 is set to become the new flagship aircraft of the airline, once disputes with the flight attendants union are solved. Over 670 flights had to be cancelled because of the strike.
