Just one month after Taipei’s Songshan Airport reopened its doors to locals for a fake flight experience, an EVA Air initiative is bringing new meaning to the term “round trip”.
On 8 August – Taiwanese Father’s Day – the airline plans to operate a scenic sortie over the East China Sea, circling Japan’s Ryukyu Islands before returning to Taipei.
With passengers to be treated to a Michelin star in-flight meal as well as exclusive gifts from cabin crew, it’s clear the trip is being marketed as a present for local fathers. Yet, from boarding pass through to the A330’s livery, the entire experience will be themed around popular Japanese children’s cartoon Hello Kitty.
The tours are currently being marketed for US$180 for an economy class ticket, or US$214 for business.
CNN Travel reported that, if conditions are clear, passengers will be able to take in views of several Taiwanese attractions, including Guishan Island and the scenic Huadong coastline.
“We have signed up nine local travel agencies for the trip, which will leave at 10:30am on August 8 and return at 1:15pm,” a spokesperson for the airline said. “There will not be a stopover in Japan.”
“Due to the global epidemic, the international tourism market has been suspended for more than half a year, and the public’s ‘I really want to go abroad’ are becoming more and more intense,” stated a press release on the official website of the airline.
At the same time national flag carrier, China Airlines (CAL), has been spruiking two “holiday” packages – on 8 August and 15 August – comprising a tour of the pilot’s cabin and a two-hour flight over the island.
