EVA Air to become formal member of Star Alliance in 2013

Taiwan’s second-largest carrier EVA Air recently announced it will join Star Alliance, the world’s first and largest airline alliance.

The airline in a statement said that it will formally become a member of Star Alliance in 2013.

Currently, Star Alliance has 26 members. There are four other pending members, including EVA Air, which are expected to join this leading global airline alliance soon. There will be eight member carriers based in the Asia-Pacific region by mid-2013.

After joining the alliance, EVA Air flights will also start operating under the Star Alliance banner. Presently, Star Alliance member airlines jointly operate more than 22,000 daily flights to 1,345 destinations in 191 countries.

EVA Air stated that by joining Star Alliance the passengers will be able to book and reserve seats in Taiwan even though the airline does not offer flights to certain destinations despite being member of the alliance.

Chang Kuo-wei, President of EVA Air, said that the airline expects to see a 20 percent increase in passenger volume after it formally joins Star Alliance.