“Oscars of the Travel Industry” Awards Announced: EVA Air’s “Premium Economy” Wins Gold

By Chi Binghui, compiled and reported

A renowned American travel industry newspaper, “Travel Weekly,” conducts annual evaluations of the travel sector each year, inviting expert judges to select the best-performing companies and present them with awards. Known as the “Oscars of the Travel Industry,” the publication recently announced this year’s winners. Among them, EVA Air received the Gold Award for Best Economy Class for its “Economy Becomes a Pleasure” service in the Premium Economy cabin, earning recognition and praise from the judges for both its hardware and software offerings.

EVA Air launched its Luxury Economy Class in 1992, using the same business class seats and linked cushions typically found on other airlines, with a seat pitch of 38 inches—offering 44% more personal space than the economy class of most airlines, which has made it highly popular among business travelers. The new generation of Luxury Economy Class has been renamed “Premium Economy.” In addition to retaining its original features, it now includes an 8.4-inch high-definition touchscreen, a travel kit, premium tableware for in-flight meals, a dedicated check-in counter for Premium Economy at Taoyuan Airport, increased checked baggage allowance, and a price just slightly higher than that of economy class—allowing travelers to enjoy business-class-level services at an affordable price.

In the recent “Travel Weekly” evaluation, EVA Air’s Premium Economy outshone numerous international competitors to win the award for Best Economy Class. The judging criteria included seat comfort, entertainment systems, audiovisual equipment, in-flight meals, and the clarity of the seat interactive system presentation on the official website.