EVA Air joins the Star Alliance network, further strengthening the Alliance's presence in Asia Pacific on June 18, 2013. Star Alliance was founded with the mission of providing seamless global air travel for the high value international traveller. EVA Air's customers will now have access to a global network of 28 airlines, operating more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,328 airports in 195 countries. In addition to bringing Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Surabaya (Indonesia) as unique airports to the network, EVA Air expands the Alliance's presence on the important Cross-Straits market, which has grown from an annual passenger volume of just over 3 million in 2009 to around 9 million in 2012. Moreover, Taiwan's geographic location is such that it has the shortest average distance to all major cities in the Asia Pacific region, making Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport an important hub in the region. In total, Star Alliance now offers 10 hubs across Asia Pacific: Tokyo - Narita and Haneda, Seoul - Incheon, Beijing, Shanghai - Pudong, Taipei - Taoyuan, Shenzhen, Bangkok, Singapore and Auckland. Last but not least, EVA Air is now included in the Asia Airpass alongside all other Asia based Star Alliance member airlines. This special coupon and mileage based fare is available to all overseas visitors to the region travelling on a Star Alliance member airline and allows customers to travel around Asia (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam).(mar)