EVA Air introduces speed dating for singles on "flights to nowhere"

Aviation Updates Philippines – Taiwanese airline EVA Air will be launching a series of "flights to nowhere" incorporating speed dating to help lonely singles find love amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Taipei-based carrier partnered with travel experience company Mobius International Ltd. for the "Fly! Love is in the Air" campaign. According to EVA Air, there will be three events in total: one on Christmas Day, one on New Year's Eve, and another on New Year's Day.

Each event will include a three-hour flight that will depart from Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei and a two-hour romantic date on land. Participants will be seated with a partner chosen via a draw, but everyone is free to move around the cabin and interact with other passengers. For everyone's safety, participants will be required to keep their masks on when not eating or drinking.

The Christmas Day event includes afternoon tea that will be served upon landing. The New Year's Eve event will begin with a candlelight dinner before guests board the plane to usher in the New Year. The New Year's Day event will be a breakfast date.

All three events will conclude with a confession session where participants will share who they clicked with the most.

Each event is open to 20 men between 28 and 38 years old and 20 women between 24 and 35 years old. All participants must have a university degree and must be a citizen of Taiwan.

The age requirement has raised a few eyebrows in Taiwan.

"From different surveys we have done, most of the male participants would like to meet women younger than them while female participants would like to meet men older than them. That's why there is a different age criteria for the event," Chiang Tsung-Wei of Mobius' speed dating arm You and I said in an interview.

Tickets for each event cost TW$8,388 (US$295). This includes a hot meal prepared by Michelin-starred chef Motoke Nakamura, Häagen-Dazs ice cream, a Christmas afternoon tea, and travel insurance.

In a Facebook post, You and Me said they had received over 400 applications for the Christmas Day event, and all 40 slots were taken within a week. Slots for the second and third flights, meanwhile, were made available starting today.

Photo by Duan Zhu