Taiwan's EVA to cut flights to Europe, US to offset loss

Taiwan's carrier EVA Airs will cut long-haul flights, including those to Europe and the US, to try to offset loss in the face of skyrocketing fuel prices, airlines officials said Sunday, dpa reported.

"We will have to make flexible adjustments to our long-haul flights after the summer vacation in September to reflect operation costs following deficits in 2007 and the first quarter of this year," said EVA spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei.

The airline said it suffered a loss of 1.87 billion Taiwan dollars (61.5 million US dollars) last year and registered a deficit of 2.3 billion Taiwan dollars (75.6 million US dollars) in the first quarter of this year.

EVA chairman Chang Yung-fa projected the company's 2008 loss to top 10 billion Taiwan dollars due to fuel costs, which have risen to 60 per cent of the total operation expense of the company.

Under the tentative plan, flights affected would be Amsterdam in Europe, Los Angeles and San Francisco in the US, Auckland in New Zealand and Brisbane in Australia, Nieh said.

Nieh declined to say how many long-haul flights would be cut, saying the airlines will notify air passengers one month in advance for any adjustments made.

The airline halted flights to Paris in October, and to Mumbai earlier this year.

EVA's biggest Taiwanese rival, China Airlines (CAL), said in June it had cut about 150 flights, mostly to the US and Asia, due to soaring fuel costs.

Newly elected CAL chairman Philip Wei said on Thursday the airline would focus on short-haul regional flights, including charter flights to and from China, as part of the new operational strategy.

CAL registered a first-quarter loss of 2.97 billion Taiwan dollars (98 million US dollars).