On 2 October 2018, EVA Air will take delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner during a ceremony at Boeing South Carolina. Configured to cater for 304 passengers – 26 in Royal Laurel Class (Business Class) and 278 in Economy – the new aircraft will unveil the latest generation of Royal Laurel Class seats, which have been created in collaboration with Designworks, a BMW company.
“A more modern, globalised design concept”
Clay Sun, EVA Air president said: “The introduction of Boeing 787 Dreamliners is essential to our continuous pursuit of service excellence. We have adopted a more modern, globalised design concept and combined it with Boeing’s latest aviation technologies to create a luxurious cabin environment and provide all our passengers with an even more comfortable flying experience.”
Designworks has created the latest generation of the Royal Laurel Class with tailor-made Business Class seats which seamlessly integrate into a bespoke cabin environment in mature, muted colours.
At 23 inches wide, EVA Air’s new Royal Laurel Class cabin seats recline into flat-bed positions that can reach up to 76 in. (193 cm) in length.
Johannes Lampela, design director at Designworks’ LA Studio, said: “We wanted EVA Air’s business class experience to be fresh and memorable for passengers and to make service, design and brand all work together. Our goal was to take a proven seat platform and make it unique to EVA Air. From privacy, service, interaction, stowage and amenities, we explored the holistic passenger experience.”
EVA Air has equipped its new Royal Laurel Class seats with adjustable privacy panels and built-in storage cabinets and the airline upgraded the In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) systems with 18 inch HD touchscreen monitors, noise-cancelling headphones, extra-large fold-out tables, auxiliary outlets and USB ports.
For the design of its Economy Class seats on the new 787 Dreamliners, EVA Air enlisted Boeing Company’s long-time working partner, Teague and ergonomically-designed seats from RECARO, the German Automotive Seating company.
EVA Air has equipped these seats with leather headrests that adjust as much as 6 inches from the top of the seatback to the highest position and added neck supports that can be moved in six directions. The new aircraft also feature an upgraded IFE with 12-inch HD touchscreen monitors for every seat.
EVA Air expects to take delivery of three more of 787-9 aircrafts and its first Boeing 787-10 in the second quarter of next year. By 2022, EVA Air plans to be operating a total of 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. As soon as EVA Air takes delivery of its first Boeing 787-9, the airline will finalise the preparations for putting the plane in service and work with Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to get it certified.
The airlined expects the new Dreamliner will make its maiden flight by the end of October 2018. The airline will fly the Dreamliner on its Taipei – Hong Kong route until the second Dreamliner is ready to deploy, when it will be able to extend the plane’s services to Japan.