Taiwan's EVA Airways is set to formally join the Star Alliance network next month, with June 18th tipped for the official ceremony in Taipei.
EVA's entry into the world's largest airline alliance will bring with it reciprocal point sharing through EVA's Evergreen Club and the frequent flyer schemes of other Star members such as Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and United, along with reciprocal access to airport lounges and other standard alliance perks.
Read: Frequent flyer basics: Star Alliance elite tiers & benefits
EVA is Taiwan's second-largest carrier behind China Airlines, which last year signed up with the SkyTeam alliance. The airline counts Brisbane as its sole Australian port, with twice-weekly flights between Brisbane and Taipei.
In March this year Qantas ended its codeshare agreement with EVA Air, saying that it would "continue to offer a range of fare products servicing the Australia/Taipei market via Hong Kong and Shanghai, connecting with Cathay Pacific and DragonAir."
Need to brush up on what Star Alliance means to Australian travellers in terms of airlines, tiers and more? We've got you covered!
- Star Alliance: the basics for Australian frequent flyers
- Expert travel hack: how to get Star Alliance Gold status with a single flight
Keep up to date with the latest news for Australian business travellers and frequent flyers: tune into @AusBT on Twitter.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
16 May 2011
Total posts 8
Go Taiwan!
23 Dec 2011
Total posts 6
Love EVA Air!
Any chance of a review of their new Royal Laurel Class?
04 Nov 2010
Total posts 670
Working in the IT business and starting to travel a bit more this year I can see that I'll probably need to go to Taiwan sometimes. I was going to fly to Hong Kong with QF or CX and then fly CX/KA to Taipei but I might think about going direct with Eva now, collect a few more Star points. Wish they flew to other parts of Australia than just Brisbane, which seems an odd choice for Eva, maybe it's mainly a tourist destination for the Taiwanese. A shame QF no longer codeshares with them, maybe this is something Virgin might consider.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
07 May 2013
Total posts 12
I think it's due to Brisbane having a large population of Taiwanese people. Having said that, China Airlines is doing well with its Brisbane-Auckland and Sydney-Auckland flights, so I hear that EVA might be about to restart Sydney flights. Hope that will help for you!
19 Mar 2013
Total posts 38
Didn't EVA run some limited Sydney-Taipei flights last year? Maybe that was their trial run but the market demand wasn't enough? But hard to determine that with just a few flights.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on EVA Airways to join Star Alliance in June