Love is in the air! Taiwan airline introduces speed-dating ‘flights to nowhere’ for singletons who love travelling
- EVA Air is working its magic this Christmas by offering speed-dating flights
- The flights are for single travellers on Christmas Day, NYE and New Year’s Day
- EVA Air is offering short flights that start and end at the same airport in Taiwan
A Taiwan airline is working its magic this Christmas by offering singletons the chance to find love with speed-dating flights over the holiday season.
EVA Air, one of the island’s largest carriers, is expanding the latest ‘flights to nowhere’ trend, where aircraft take off and land at the same airport, by coupling it with speed-dating.
The flights are designed to fulfil people’s desire to travel and meet potential partners on a plane whilst regional borders remain closed due to coronavirus.
EVA Air is partnering with travel experience company Mobius on a campaign called ‘Fly! Love is in the Air’ to arrange the three-hour flights for single travellers on Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
‘Because of Covid-19, EVA Air has been organising ‘faux travel’ experiences to fulfil people’s desire for travel,’ Chiang Tsung-Wei, the spokesperson for You and Me, the speed dating arm of Mobius, told CNN Travel.
EVA Air is working its magic this Christmas by offering singletons the chance to find love with speed-dating flights over the holiday season
‘When single men and women travel, apart from enjoying the fun in travel, they may wish to meet someone – like a scene in a romantic movie.’
‘In addition to gathering participants with enough spending power, it also attracts a group of single people who love traveling. With the same values, it boosts participants’ motivation to meet and helps smoothen their conversation from the start,’ Tsung-Wei added.
The three-hour flights depart from Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport and circles the airspace above Taiwan before landing at the same airport. The singletons then embark on a romantic two-hour date back on land.
EVA Air are attempting to play cupid on the matchmaking flights by seating each couple by lucky draw, although they are allowed to move around and chat to other people if they don’t feel a spark.
EVA Air, one of the island’s largest carriers, is expanding the latest ‘flights to nowhere’ trend, where aircraft take off and land at the same airport, by coupling it with speed-dating
Whilst on board the flight, the single travellers are encouraged to have in-depth conversations with one another whilst enjoying meals prepared by Michelin-starred chef Motoke Nakamura. They are also told to keep face masks on when they are not eating or drinking.
The three flights vary slightly depending on the festive day of travel. On Christmas Day, the flight will be followed by an afternoon tea date.
The New Year’s Eve date will start with a romantic candlelit dinner before guests board the plane, where they will enjoy a countdown to 2021. The flight on New Year’s Day will be a breakfast date.
The whirlwind dates, which cost $295 per person, end with a ‘confession’ section where participants reveal who they felt they had chemistry with.
Each flight seats 40 passengers – 20 men and 20 women – whilst the participants must be university graduates from Taiwan. Tickets are restricted to men between 28 and 38 years old and women between 24 and 35 years old.
All the 40 seats for the first flight on Christmas Day are already sold out, with over 400 people applying for tickets.