Southwest teams up with EVA Air in third international partnership
Southwest Airlines has its second partnership with an airline based in Taiwan.
The Dallas-based carrier is teaming up with Taipei-based Star Alliance carrier EVA Air, Southwest revealed in a social media post on Monday.
As part of the tie-up, customers can book seamless connections featuring both Southwest- and EVA-operated flights through four U.S. gateways: Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
Bookings are available through EVA's website.
"This partnership is another step forward as we continue our mission to bring more choices and new horizons to our customers," Southwest said in a social media post announcing the news.
Southwest's new EVA partnership is its third with an international carrier and, notably, its second with an airline based in Taiwan.
Last week, the carrier formalized its partnership with Taiwan-based China Airlines in a ceremony at its Dallas headquarters.
At that gathering, Southwest said it was accelerating plans to make Rapid Rewards earning and redemptions available on partner bookings in the not-too-distant future.
"We're not talking years and years," CEO Bob Jordan quipped last week. "I think you'll see a pretty regular announcement of new partners."
In addition to its new EVA and China Airlines tie-ups, Southwest has a partnership with Reykjavik-based Icelandair.
For EVA's part, this new airline partnership comes as the carrier is expanding its U.S. footprint, with nonstop flights to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) set to launch in October. That new route between DFW and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) will also mark the U.S. debut of the airline's brand-new premium economy product on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
EVA is already a partner of United Airlines through their shared alliance.
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