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Taiwan's Eva Airways plans to cut the number of Airbus single-aisle planes in its fleet and bring in bigger aircraft as travel rebounds from the pandemic, according to its president, Sun Chia-ming. “We have to use widebodies because we can seat more passengers,” Sun said in an interview. “We are evaluating the future to replace some of the Airbus A321s,” he said on the sidelines of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, recently. “Definitely, we are going to shrink the size of our narrowbodies.” It hasn’t yet been decided how many of Eva Air’s 24 A321ceo jets will be phased out. That will likely depend on the situation in mainland China, which remains largely closed off to travel due to its Covid-19 policies, though Beijing eased some rules last week. Eva Air normally uses its A321s, which can carry up to 184 passengers, for flights to smaller Chinese cities. “I read some news saying it’s very possible that China won’t open up by the end of next year,” Sun said. “That means it’s bad for us.” Sun, president of the airline since 2018, said the first priority would be to take delivery of 11 Boeing Co 787-9s and -10s over the next two years. Eva Air’s dual-aisle 787s seat between 304 and 342 passengers. Once those are delivered, a fresh order of widebody planes will be discussed, he said.<br/>

Thai Airways International said Friday that Chai Eamsiri would become the company's CEO from Feb. 1, as it proceeds with a pandemic-driven restructuring plan. Chai, currently the firm's CFO, was chosen for the top job from 53 internal and external candidates, the company said. "The appointment is a crucial next step to build trust and confidence among the creditors, passengers and business partners," it said, adding Chai had 37 years of experience and knowledge in the Thai aviation industry. The airline, which has had acting CEOs since 2020, opened applications for the top job in September. Candidates were required to be Thai nationals in line with government regulations. The new CEO will have to work with the restructuring committee and oversee the airline's recovery.<br/>

Ethiopian Airlines has announced a progressive goal to expand its fleet and enlarge its network. The airline’s “Vision 2035” plans, confirmed last week, will introduce more than a hundred new aircraft to its fleet. Additionally, Ethiopian plans to add more cities to its network, totaling its destination network to more than 200 by 2035. The Star Alliance carrier is currently the largest airline in Africa and has a sizeable operation between Africa and Asia. Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, spoke to the Ethiopian News Agency about the carrier’s strategic plans to grow. “In vision 2035, we have aimed to nearly double the number of destinations that we will be flying by increasing the number of destinations from 131 today to 207; and to cover this expansion, we have planned again to double the number of aircraft in our flight from 140 to 271. We have planned to carry 65m passengers and 3m tons of cargo. We aim to generate 25b USD revenue by 2035.”<br/>