Taipei: EVA Airways and LOT Polish Airlines will commence codeshare services on June 9, aiming to facilitate seamless travel between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Warsaw Chopin Airport. This development comes amid the absence of direct flights, as announced by the Taiwanese carrier.
According to Focus Taiwan, the codeshare partnership with LOT Polish Airlines is expected to enhance air travel between Taiwan and Poland. Although the two countries signed an air service agreement in 2015, they have yet to establish scheduled direct flights, EVA Air stated. EVA Air Chief Executive Vice President Liao Chi-wei highlighted that both companies are members of the Star Alliance, attributing the new partnership to EVA Air's initiatives to strengthen ties with fellow alliance members since joining in 2013.
Under the new partnership, flights operated by LOT Polish Airlines between Warsaw and two transfer points-Vienna, Austria, and Tokyo Narita Airport in Japan-will carry EVA Air's flight numbers, starting with "BR." This arrangement allows EVA Air customers to book Taoyuan-Warsaw flights via either Vienna or Tokyo Narita on a single ticket through the carrier's website. Conversely, the Polish carrier's flight numbers, beginning with "LO," will be added to EVA Air's flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the two mentioned airports.
Liao noted that this codeshare partnership enhances convenience for air travel between Taiwan and Poland, contributing to increased tourism and trade for both nations. Search results on the EVA Air website currently show that the carrier operates three direct flights between Taoyuan and Vienna on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, with services on other days including a stopover in Bangkok.
The partnership was initially announced by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung during his visit to Warsaw last November. The announcement was made at a luncheon attended by Andrzej Dycha, head of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, and representatives from Taiwan-based companies like Foxconn, Chunghwa Telecom, Chimei Corp., and Taiwan Optical Platform.
The air service agreement signed in 2015 led to the first direct passenger flight five years later, when a charter service operated by the Polish carrier from Warsaw landed in Taoyuan on June 7, 2020. This historic flight repatriated over 100 Taiwan nationals stranded at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. In late 2018, LOT Polish Airlines added Taoyuan as a destination through codeshare flights operated with Singapore Airlines via Singapore, as announced by Taiwan's civil aviation authority at the time.