EVA Air to launch Washington, DC's first-ever nonstop flight to Taiwan
EVA Air will launch the first-ever nonstop flight from Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) this summer.
The Star Alliance carrier will debut four weekly flights between TPE and IAD on June 26, the airline said Wednesday. Flights will depart IAD on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays and TPE on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The new TPE-IAD route will operate on an EVA Boeing 787-9 that features 26 lie-flat business-class seats, 28 premium economy seats and 224 standard economy seats.
"North America has long been a key strategic market for EVA Air," Clay Sun, president of EVA Air, said in a statement. The addition of IAD "strengthens our presence on the East Coast and allows us to better serve one of the nation's most influential markets, home to the political heart of the U.S. and a high concentration of global enterprises."
As far back as 2024, EVA told TPG it had its eyes on IAD as one of its future U.S. markets.
The new IAD flights come as air service between the U.S. and Taiwan booms. Since recovering to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels in 2023, seats in the market have grown at a compound annual rate of 12.8%, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows. That is more than twice the compound annual rate of growth for all of the 2010s.
The growth is driven by EVA and the one-upmanship (or, rather, two-upmanship) with competitors China Airlines and Starlux Airlines. Starlux entered the Taiwan-U.S. market in 2023 and has since grown to five destinations, including its latest addition Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), which begins Jan. 15. China Airlines, not to be outdone, added PHX as a destination late in 2025, as well as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) in 2024. And EVA landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in October.
The rapid growth raises questions over the sustainability of some of the new flights. For example, SEA has four daily flights to TPE across China Airlines, Delta Air Lines, EVA and Starlux; that market was served by just one flight for the entirety of the 2010s. On the other hand, the large investments by Taiwanese chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in Phoenix suggest there is demand for a nonstop flight to TPE — but are two flights necessary?
Both China Airlines and Starlux have indicated that even more U.S. nonstops are coming.
Regardless of whether the expansion of U.S.-Taiwan flights is sustainable over the long term, it does create attractive deals for travelers. Members of Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards can book flights on Starlux using points. And China Airlines is a partner of the Delta SkyMiles loyalty program and EVA of United MileagePlus.
The new route is also good news for IAD. EVA will be the airport's second new carrier in 2026 following South Korean airline Air Premia, which will begin flights to Seoul, South Korea, in April.
EVA's new IAD flights will also connect with United Airlines' hub at the airport.
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