Taiwan's EVA Air to pivot away from narrowbodies - president

EVA Air plans to pivot away from narrowbodies in favour of more widebody aircraft according to the airline's president, Sun Chia-ming. Sun told Bloomberg that when the twenty-two-strong fleet of A321-200s is replaced, it will likely be with widebody planes. The ongoing closure of mainland China, where the A321-200s normally fly, is partly behind this shift in fleet strategy. Sun is bearish on China re-opening anytime soon, and with other markets already reopened and passenger demand strong, he says there is a requirement for widebodies elsewhere in the network. "Definitely, we are going to shrink the size of our narrowbodies," he said. "I read some news saying it’s very possible that China won’t open up until the end of next year. That means it’s bad for us.” Sun says even when China does reopen, not all routes will necessarily immediately resume or even resume at all.<br/>