EVA Air

Is EVA Air safe?

Yes. EVA Air has flown for 35 years without a fatal accident or the loss of a single aircraft, a record few long-haul airlines can match. We score it 87, above Starlux (85) and China Airlines (80). The points it loses come from an older part of its fleet and from crew-conduct problems in 2025 and 2026, not from crashes.

A clean accident record

EVA, part of Taiwan's Evergreen shipping group, began flying in 1991. The Aviation Safety Network holds no fatal accident and no hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary for it. The events it does list are the kind most large airlines have:

• 28 March 2005: an Airbus A330 from Taipei hit severe turbulence on descent towards Tokyo Narita. The cabin ceiling was damaged and 46 passengers and 10 crew were hurt, one with a broken neck.
• 16 August 2008: at San Francisco, a ground mechanic was pinned under the nose gear of a 777 when the tow bar came free with the parking brake released. US investigators blamed the ground crew for not following procedures.
• 2 December 2017: a Boeing 777-300ER leaving Toronto followed the wrong painted line through the de-icing pad and struck two light poles. The right wing's leading edge and slats were badly damaged; nobody was hurt.

Turbulence is the real risk on EVA, as on any long-haul airline. The 2005 injuries happened on descent, a phase when people are often walking around or have loosened their belts.

Crew culture: the 2025 and 2026 cases

The weaker side of EVA's record is people, not aircraft.

In October 2025, an EVA flight attendant died after falling ill while working. EVA then agreed to ease the penalties it imposes on cabin crew who take sick leave, Focus Taiwan reported. Crew who fly while sick are a safety issue, not just a labour one, because the cabin crew run evacuations.

Then in January 2026, EVA suspended a captain who allegedly punched his first officer while their aircraft was taxiing for departure at Los Angeles. A cockpit where one pilot assaults the other is exactly what crew resource management training exists to prevent. EVA acted quickly, but the case raises questions about how the airline screens and supports its pilots.

Neither case led to an accident. They are why we score serious incidents at 80 rather than in the 90s.

The fleet

EVA listed 89 aircraft in service on 1 August 2026, including 9 Boeing 777 freighters:

Type	In service	On order
Boeing 777-300ER	32	0
Boeing 787-10	13	4
Boeing 787-9	9	8
Airbus A321-200	17	0
Airbus A330-300	9	0
Airbus A350-1000	0	24
Airbus A321neo	0	18

EVA does not publish an average age. In November 2023, ch-aviation put the 777-300ERs at about 10.7 years and the A321s at 8.5 years, so the 777s now average about 13 years and the A321s about 11. The first A350-1000 is due in late 2027, so the 777s will carry most long-haul flying for several more years. Age alone is not a safety problem when maintenance is good, but the fleet is older than Starlux's and is ageing until the Airbus deliveries begin.

How Taiwan is overseen

Taiwan's Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) oversees EVA, and the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) investigates accidents independently. The FAA rates Taiwan Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary, and no Taiwanese airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary. Because Taiwan is not a member of ICAO, it has no ICAO audit score, so the usual international benchmark is missing. EVA is an IATA member and so has passed the IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit.

Flying EVA safely

• Keep the belt on during descent into Taipei. Summer convection and typhoon-season winds make the last 30 minutes into Taoyuan the bumpiest part of many flights.
• Watch typhoon warnings from July to October. Flights are often delayed or cancelled when a typhoon passes Taiwan; rebooking is usually free, and it is better than flying into the worst of the storm.
• Pick a 787 if you have the choice. On routes to Europe and North America, the 787-10s and 787-9s are the newest aircraft in the fleet.

How we scored it

The accident record (95) is near perfect. Oversight (84) is solid but loses points for the missing ICAO audit. Fleet (80) and incidents (80) hold the total back. Compare China Airlines, Taiwan's older flag carrier, and Starlux, the newest.