EVA Air Orders 4 More Boeing 787-9s

Boeing has secured another investment for its 787 Dreamliner, with the leading international carrier EVA Air committing to additional planes.

The Taiwanese carrier says it’ll spend up to USD 2 billion on new Boeing planes to expand its global operations.

The deal will see the purchase of four more widebody 787-9 jets, an exciting move for the business, as this aircraft is already in the airline’s operation.

When analysing the EVA Air fleet, there are currently 21 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, spread across two variants: eight -9s and 13 -10s. These average 3.9 years and 4.6 years, respectively.

EVA Air will take delivery of more Boeing 787 Dreamliners by 2033. This will include the 787-9 and 787-10 aircraft, which were already on order; now four more are being added to the backlog to help develop the long-haul operation.

These jets arriving are part of the airline’s broader plan to revamp its international operations. The upcoming addition of the Airbus A350-1000 in the next handful of years will be critical to elevating the airline’s flying across massive global destinations.

An agreement to purchase more Boeing 787s from EVA Air follows board approval, but the deal is not limited to the 787 fleet, with agreements also being reached for other aircraft in the operation.

EVA Air also confirmed that it would extend the lease contracts of four more 777-300ERS it operates to ensure it has adequate capacity moving forward.

The lease extension was also accompanied by the commitment that EVA Air would upgrade the interior of some of its 777-300ER aircraft, an investment worth over USD 150 million. While not a significant upgrade, it’ll look to increase premium seats and improve the passenger experience across all cabins.

High Levels Of Demand For The 787

Adding more 787s to Boeing’s backlog for this widebody program is encouraging, but it also underscores just how in demand this flexible and versatile jet is among airlines worldwide.

But with Boeing having been slow to raise production rates as it has battled quality issues, there has been a need to achieve stability to work through the extensive backlog truly.

In November, the planemaker said it had broken ground on site expansion in South Carolina, a market crucial to the 787 Dreamliner program, and a move that’ll employ more than 2,500 people and total 6.2 million work hours.

Boeing says it’s committed to these campuses to build the framework for the future of the 787, including a new final assembly building similar in size to the current one. This new building will include a state-of-the-art production line, as well as support and office spaces.

Construction is part of a broader USD 1 billion investment into the infrastructure of this location, with more than 1,000 jobs to be created to help support the planemaker moving forward.

Boeing is hopeful that, with the backlog sitting at a healthy level and hundreds of orders confirmed in 2025 alone, the market won’t ease up anytime soon and will require continued investment in technology and facilities to ensure delays are eradicated from deliveries.

The goal would be for Boeing to reach 14 planes produced every month once again; however, while this would return to pre-pandemic levels, the view is that a record-breaking 16 units per month can be achieved at some point as well, but that is still some time off and requires greater stability and investment.