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(CNN) – It may be less spiritual than the Buddhist mantra chanting flight in Thailand, but EVA Air’s latest “flight to nowhere” idea could be just as magical: helping people find love in the sky.
EVA Airways, one of Taiwan’s largest airlines, has partnered with travel experience company Mobius on a campaign called “Fly! Love is in the Air.” They are flights for singles on Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
“Thanks to Covid-19, EVA Air has been organizing ‘fake travel’ experiences to satisfy people’s desire to travel. When single men and women travel, in addition to enjoying the fun of travel, they may want to know someone, like a scene in a romantic movie, “Chiang Tsung-Wei, spokesperson for You and Me, Mobius’s speed dating arm, tells CNN Travel.
Each of the dating experiences includes a three-hour flight departing from Taipei Taoyuan International Airport and circling the airspace over Taiwan, plus another two hours of a romantic date on the ground.
Participants are encouraged to have in-depth conversations with each other on board while tasting meals prepared by Michelin-starred chef Motoke Nakamura. They are also encouraged to wear masks when they are not eating or drinking.
Each of the three trips varies slightly. The flight on Christmas Day will be followed by a date for afternoon tea on the mainland. The New Year’s Eve date begins with a candlelight dinner before the guests board the plane, where they will count together until 2021. New Year’s Day will be a breakfast date.
“Flights to nowhere” have become a trend in Asia and the Pacific during the coronavirus pandemic. Until now, most of these flights, which have originated in cities like Hong Kong, Sydney and Taipei, were focused on tourism, with travelers getting aerial views of famous landmarks.
For passengers on pairing flights who want to look out the window, as well as other singles, EVA Air’s daytime flights fly over the east coast of Taiwan, where they can see the mountain ranges stretching from the city of Hualien in north to Taitung. South city.
The night flight will pass by the western coast of the island, where you will see the cities of Taiwan illuminated in the dark.
Unlike a typical flight, you don’t have to choose a window or aisle in advance. Participants will sit couple by couple by lottery. However, they will be able to move and chat with other travelers during meals ashore.
All three itineraries conclude with a “confession” section in which participants reveal who they clicked with.
“The biggest advantage of speed dating on a flight comes from the seriousness of our participants,” says Chiang. “As well as bringing together participants with sufficient purchasing power, it also attracts a group of single people who love to travel. With the same values, it increases the motivation of the participants to meet and helps smooth their conversation from the beginning.”
However, not just any single person could join the flights.
Each flight has capacity for 40 passengers: 20 men and 20 women. Participants must be university graduates with citizenship in Taiwan.
The event welcomes men between 28 and 38 years old and women between 24 and 35.
The old specs have received a negative pushback online.
“According to the different surveys we have carried out, most of the male participants would like to meet women who are younger than them, while the women would like to meet men who are older than them. That is why there is a different age criterion for the event. “says Chiang, adding” But you and I have organized different dating events to suit different age groups. “
The fee for each trip is TWD8388 ($ 295) per person. All tickets for the first Christmas flight are already sold out.
So far, the response has been strong. All 40 seats on the first flight were sold out in a week, with more than 400 applicants vying for spots. The next two “flights of love” are open for application today.
This story was first published on CNN.com “EVA Air Launches Speed Dating ‘Flight To Nowhere'”.
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