EVA Air, Taiwan's leading independent airline and Star Alliance member, has had a flying start to the year securing prestigious award-wins; launching new eye-catching liveries; unveiling exciting new technology; and collaborating with key travel partners …and the carrier shows no sign of slowing down!

Below are details of the latest developments from EVA Air:

NEW TECHNOLOGY

Injecting fun into its ground services at Taipei's International Airport, EVA Air introduced newest team member 'Pepper', an interactive robot who scans boarding passes. Providing departure details, giving weather updates for end destinations and informing travellers about special duty-free offers, Pepper is the travel companion of tomorrow.

PRESTIGIOUS AWARD WINS

This year, EVA Air was recognised by AirlineRatings.com – the world's best one-stop airline safety and product rating review website – as one of '10 best of the best' airlines for 2017; with the carrier's Economy Class ranking third while its Elite Class ranks seventh. EVA Air earned the website's top seven-star rating by consistently demonstrating excellence across the board, through in-flight product, service, innovation and flawless safety records and standards. 

Additionally, the carrier was one of only three airlines to walk away with two gold medals at Business Traveller's Cellars in the Sky Awards, further cementing its position as one of the world's leading carriers for food and wine. Following blind tastings – and directly competing with 33 other participating carriers – EVA Air walked away with recognitions in both 'Best Business Class Sparkling' and 'Best Business Class Cellar' categories.

Last month, EVA Air was also honoured with two distinctions by the world's largest travel site, TripAdvisor. Announcing 'Airlines' as a brand-new award category, the carrier was recognised as a 'Top 10 Major Airline in Asia Pacific' and 'Best Airline – Taiwan'. TripAdvisor honoured the carrier based on the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings over a 12-month period, naming 50 carriers across five regions. 

NEW EYE-CATCHING LIVERIES

The consecutive months on March and April saw EVA Air launch two exciting new Sanrio-branded jets, with eye-catching liveries. The carrier's 'Travel Fun' jet staring the naughtily charming character Bad-Badtz-Maru – the world's first Bad Badtz-Maru-themed livery to be scheduled for international service – launched in March, closely followed by the airline's 'Joyful Dream Jet' in April which features a number of Sanrio Family characters frolicking alongside the famous feline Hello Kitty.   

Later this year EVA Air will launch two more brand new Sanrio Family-branded liveries, including the 'Celebration Flight' and 'Friendship Bows'. Furthering its commitment, the airline has also designed more than 30 inflight service items and cabin amenities, all of which are decorated with adorable Sanrio Family characters.

KEY COLLABORATIONS

In March this year, EVA Air – in conjunction with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) – hosted eight UK agents on a FAM trip to Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand, to collectively promote their products. In line with TAT's 2017 mission and late King Bhumibol Adulyadej's final wishes, the trip itinerary included activities that promote community based tourism, as well as cultural exploration.

Extending their collaborations further, EVA Air also formalised and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, cementing joint tourism promotions for 2017 that aim to boost visitor numbers from the USA and Canada to Taiwan and Thailand.   

For more information on EVA Air please visit www.evaair.com  or contact the airline on 0207 380 8300. High resolution images are available on request.