EVA Air took delivery of its first Boeing 777 freighter (777F) , registration number B-16781, at the Boeing Everett Delivery Center in Seattle on Wednesday, 8 November, 2017. The carrier flew its newest freighter from Paine Field to Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), departing shortly after delivery and arriving on Thursday, 9 November (Taipei Time). The airport welcomed Taiwan’s first Boeing 777F with a water cannon ceremony provided with two fire trucks.

EVA plans to put its new 777F in service on routes between Asia and North America in late November. The airline’s freighter destinations in Asia include Shanghai Pudong, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Osaka, Singapore, Bangkok, Penang and Hanoi. Its air cargo gateways in North America are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Atlanta. EVA now provides airfreight services on 62 routes, including five dedicated cargo gateways, with 35 weekly freighter flights. Shippers and freight forwarders can reserve space at http://www.brcargo.com and track shipments from their smart phones with the EVA Cargo App.

The highly efficient 777F is the world’s largest twin-engine air cargo carrier. The Boeing Company designed it to replace both the 747-400 and MD11 freighters. Based on the B 777-200LR, the 777F has the range to fly 5,000 nautical miles fully loaded with a maximum capacity of 102 tons. EVA can use it to fly airfreight from Taiwan to any destination in North America with one technical stop in Anchorage, Alaska.

Energy-efficient and environment-friendly, the 777F is expected to effectively reduce carbon emissions compared to the 747-400 freighter. EVA is equipping its 777F with GE90-115B Turbofan Engines, the same as those used to power its 34 B 777-300ER passenger planes. By using the same engine, EVA will not only reduce maintenance costs but also promote maintenance management efficiencies for its turbofan engines.

Both the 777 and 747-400 freighters accommodate the same-sized pallets and containers, providing the advantages of resource sharing and smoothing the cargo-loading process during EVA’s transition to the newer aircraft. The addition of 777F to the fleet also gives flight crews the flexibility to fly both passenger and cargo models after they have completed EVA’s demanding pilot-training program.

EVA ordered five 777F from the Boeing Company in July 2015 and will take delivery of the additional four by September 2019. As it adds the new freighters, it will successively retire its five remaining 747-400 freighters by the end of 2019. EVA is now operating a fleet of 79 aircraft, including the new freighter.