Shortly after, as we stopped by Starbucks, Ms. China Airlines A343 waved at me as it approached 26R above River Rock. I have to repeat this point many times, that China Airlines (CI) should really be called Taiwan Airlines because it has nothing to do with China; it is the national carrier of the country of Taiwan. EVA Air in Chinese has a pleasant sound and tone, meaning "everlasting luxury". Why EVA? Well, could be because it was founded by Evergreen Marine Corporation.
As someone who places safety at the top of the value list, I would definitely go for EVA if I have to fly direct from YVR to TPE. However, despite its extremely poor safety record prior to the current millennium (E.g. 90s), in particular the well-known(s) Kai Tak (old HKG) "tail-dipped-in-water-landing" and the "landing-on-the-highly-populated-roadway-by-accident" in Taiwan, CI did perform its operations safety over the past few years (at least to my memory over the past 5 years).
Upon some research on EVA, its Premium Economy cabin was launched in 1992, just a year after it first began operations in 1991. It's Premium Econ was initially offered on 744s in Transpacific flights, one of the first few innovative carriers to target such market segment. As I've emphasized before, Premium Econ is not new, though in recently years, several *big* carriers launched their first ever Prem Econ cabins (E.g. CX, ANA).
EVA currently has a fleet size of 59, mainly operating twin-aisle Airbuses and Boeing's. Soon to phase out all 744s by the newer generation 773ERs, it currently has 3 regular 744s (plus another 4 744Ms), which one of them flies the TPE-YVR route (at least usually during the summer - 773ERs have been assigned before too). I still enjoy spotting EVA Air as it has a fresh green livery and a meaningful name (in Chinese), and most importantly, one of the rare 744s that still lands on the stripes of YVR!
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| EVA Air - BR10 - B744 - Approaching 26R - 3 September 2012 (iPhone shot, edited using Instagram) |
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| EVA Air - BR10 - B744 - Right Above My Head :) - 3 September 2012 (iPhone shot, edited using Instagram) |
