EVA Air (BR, Taipei Taoyuan) parent, Evergreen Holdings, says plans to merge the carrier with its subsidiary Uni Air (B7, Taipei Sung Shan) will likely be frozen until the Taiwanese Ministry of Transportation and Communications changes regulations governing the allocation of air routes.
According to the Taipei Times, EVA chairman Chang Kuo-wei told a company AGM earlier this week that a consolidated company, while beneficial from a customer acceptance and managerial point of view, may prove difficult insofar as route allocations are concerned.
Taiwan currently allocates routes to carriers based on the number of airlines in a corporate group as opposed to the carrier's overall size; a criterion Chang says he would like changed as a unified EVA and Uni Air operation would be negatively impacted.
In addition, though both carriers operate relatively distinct networks with EVA focussing on international flights and Uni Air specializing in domestic Taiwanese flights, the two do operate several routes to China which overlap and which may be revoked once consolidation to one Air Operator Certificate (AOC) occurs.
Currently, EVA Air operates a fleet of sixty-four aircraft ranging from MD-90s, leased from Uni Air, and A318-100s to B747-400s and B777-300(ER)s while Uni Air operates ATR72s and MD-90-30s. Together their combined networks span the Taiwanese domestic market as well as China, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and the United States.
