EVA Air's Hello Kitty-themed Boeing 777s now flying to Houston
HOUSTON — One could say it was a "purrfect" launch Friday for EVA Air is it began flights between Houston and Taiwan on its latest Hello Kitty-themed airplanes.
With Hello Kitty and several other of her Sanrio-hatched colleagues emblazoned on the side, EVA's Boeing 777-300ER was hard to miss as it crisscrossed the airport toward a water-cannon welcome at its gate. Press and airport workers snapped photos, smiling at the hulking testament to the iconic characters.
Hello Kitty herself made an appearance at a celebration later in the evening, descending from the airplane while dancing to Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.
Hello Kitty may have been the star of the day, but she was there to help Taiwanese carrier EVA usher in its high-profile new route between Houston and Taiwan's capital of Taipei. The airline will fly the route with brand new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft that seat 333 passengers, including 39 in EVA's Royal Laurel Class business section and 56 in "Elite" premium economy. There are 238 standard coach seats.
The planes are equipped with Wi-Fi and new in-flight entertainment systems. EVA's newest 777s will also offer text-messaging and roaming service options that allow fliers to send and receive short messages with their own mobile phones.
EVA will fly four flights a week on the Houston-Taipei route. And passengers on those flights should expect an overwhelming Hello Kitty experience.
The character is featured prominently on the exterior, but it's the inside of the aircraft that makes for an over-the-top experience. The cabin includes over 100 Hello Kitty-branded items, including kids' meals, toilet paper, seat covers and pillows.
The jet becomes the seventh Hello Kitty-themed jet in the EVA fleet. The first, an Airbus A330, appeared in 2005. The other six Hello Kitty planes currently in service fly mostly regional routes across Asia, such as Taipei to Shanghai or Tokyo.
"I initiated our Hello Kitty Jet concept to make flying fun," EVA Air Chairman KW Chang says in a statement. "We believe our new service will be a Texas-sized success."
Houston is now the seventh North American destination for EVA, joining Los Angeles, New York JFK, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. The Houston flight will continue onward to Singapore.
While the launch was perhaps Houston's cutest inaugural in recent years, EVA is just the latest of a string of carriers to add international service to Houston in recent years.
Just two weeks ago, Japanese carrier All Nippon added non-stop service to Tokyo Narita. Low-cost carrier Spirit added service to several Mexican and Latin American destinations since April. Korean Air, SAS, Turkish Airlines and United have all added new destinations since mid-2013.
And other carriers have also beefed up capacity on existing international routes, with both Air China and Emirates recently adding more flights to Beijing and Dubai, respectively.
With the boom in international flying, Houston unveiled plans last June to replace Bush Intercontinental Airport's aging international Terminal D. The new building — still in the funding and planning phase — would feature 15 gates, including some that could handle the Airbus A380 super-jumbo jet.
Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren is a Seattle-based photojournalist and aviation writer and a contributor to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. You also can follow Jeremy on Twitter at @photoJDL.