Taiwanese airline EVA Air has announced a deal with Airbus for the purchase of 18 A350-1000s and 15 A321neo aircraft.
The order – which is valued at $10.1bn based on list prices – was announced in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing and no further details about delivery timeline or additional purchase options were available.
Airbus confirmed the order in a post on X (formerly Twitter) saying: “So excited that EVA Air has chosen the A350-1000 to modernise its long-haul fleet. Adding to this news, the airline has also announced that it will order the A321neo for its regional routes.”
The carrier’s current 86-strong fleet comprises 19 A321-200s, three A330-200s, nine A330-300s, 34 Boeing 777-300ERs, eight 777Fs, four 787-9s and nine 787-10s.
It’s not known which aircraft the A350-1000s will replace, but potential candidates include the A330s and 777-300ERs. The A321neos are likely to replace the -200s.
Meanwhile, in a separate stock exchange filing, EVA Air confirmed its plans to extend the operating leases on 12 of its A321-200s leased by Singapore-based BOC Aviation. These are B-16215 through to B-16223 and B-16225 through to B-16227. The jets were delivered to the airline between March 2015 and October 2016.
The mega order signals the continuation of a trend for EVA Air towards Airbus, as the operator historically has favoured Boeing, especially for its long-haul fleet.
