TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s four main airlines—Eva Air, China Airlines, Starlux, and Tigerair— all reported strong passenger loads and record revenue for November.
China Airlines (CAL) reported monthly revenue of NT$17.305 billion (US$532 million) a 15.2% increase year-over-year. Meanwhile, consolidated revenue for the first 11 months was NT$185.41 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%, per UDN.
A closer look at operations found CAL passenger revenue in November to be NT$ 9.96 billion, a 9.9% increase from a year prior. CAL attributed the rise to Team Taiwan’s advancement to the Premier12 Super Round as the airline added three flights to accommodate baseball fans.
CAL has also benefitted from seasonal travel demand associated with Thanksgiving in North America with passenger traffic to cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, and San Francisco. The airline said passenger load is expected to reach 80% in December.
Eva Air recorded monthly revenue of NT$18.27 billion, an increase of 2.7% compared to the same period last year, with cumulative revenue for the first 11 months reaching NT$200.96 billion, an annual increase of 10.7%.
Eva Air's November passenger revenue was NT$11.32 billion. Booking demand for routes to US destinations was strong during the Thanksgiving holiday, with European routes also doing well as passenger load for long-haul routes was close to 90%.
Eva Air’s Japanese routes for fall “leaf peeping” also did well in major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka.
For Starlux, travel to Japan to view fall foliage also led monthly revenue to rise to NT$2.98 billion, an increase of 46.6% when compared to the same period a year ago.
Tigerair's single-month revenue was NT$1.184 billion, an increase of 11.9% from a year earlier.