EVA Air to halve flight costs for visiting L.A. Dodgers

More than 100 officials and players of the Dodgers team are scheduled to take off from Phoenix, Arizona, and arrive in Taoyuan International Airport on March 11.

Most airlines quoted a cost for the chartered flight ranging from NT$25 million to NT$30 million.

At the request of Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, EVA Airways founder Chang Jung-fa agreed to halve the price to NT$15 million as part of an effort to help promote baseball sport in Taiwan, especially after the sport was recently hit by local game-fixing scandals,

Mayor Hau said he appreciated the contribution of Chang and his company to the effort to help rekindle the passion of local baseball fans for the game.

The major air carrier will also prepare American-style food and drinks for the visitors on the flight.

Managers of the Dodgers have not announced the lineup for the games. But Taiwan-born pitcher Kuo Hong-chih and shortstop Hu Chin-lung will return and play in the games for the Dodgers. The Dodgers will play two games at the Tianmu baseball park in Taipei March 12 and 13 and a third game at the Chengching Lake stadium in southern Kaohsiung on March 14.

Officials of the Dodgers have arrived at the Chengching Lake stadium to make an on-site inspection of the field. They were generally satisfied with the facilities and offered some suggestions for improvement.

They were especially elated about the sunny weather in southern Taiwan as most North American areas are still experiencing cold and snowy weather.

Kaohsiung County Magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing greeted the Dodgers officials yesterday and provided them with the native jelly fig cold drink. The visitors were delighted with the fresh, cold drink given the high temperatures in southern Taiwan that reached around 30 degrees Celsius. Yang said people in Kaohsiung warmly welcome the arrival of the Dodgers. He has instructed his staff to provide the indigenous cold drink every day, among other amenities, to the visitors.

This is the first time that the Dodgers will play friendship and pre-season games warmup games in Taiwan since 1993. But the forthcoming match will be the Dodgers' first game to be played in the Kaohsiung area.

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