China Business

Jan 27, 2006

Cross-straits New Year flights kick off

TAIPEI - A TransAsia Airways' Airbus A321 flew from Taipei to Xiamen in China's Fujian province Wednesday morning, marking the start of Taiwan-Xiamen direct charter flights, which are part of the 2006 Lunar New Year direct cross-strait charter flight services.

With 194 passengers aboard, the TransAsia plane departed from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport at 9 AM and arrived at Xiamen's Gaoqi Airport at 10:40 AM. Nearly 70% of the passengers were Taiwan tourists, while some were Fujian women

married to Taiwan citizens. For the return flight to Taipei later the same day, all the passengers aboard are expected to be Taiwan people maintaining business operations in China and their relatives.

The TransAsia flight marks the first Taipei-Xiamen direct charter flight since direct cross-strait Lunar New Year charter flight services were first offered in 2004. Meanwhile, a Xiamen Air passenger plane arrived at the CKS airport at 9:25 AM, carrying Taiwan businesspeople back home for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Trans Asia Airways officials said that a direct flight from Taipei to Xiamen takes 100 minutes, which is three or four hours less than the travel time on the usual route, which includes a transit stop in Macau.

In addition to Trans Asia Airways, three other Taiwan carriers - UNI Airways, Far East Air Transport Corporation and Mandarin Airlines - are also operating direct Taipei-Xiamen or Kaohsiung-Xia charter flights in the three days leading up to Chinese New Year's Day, which falls on January 29 this year.

Six carriers from each side of the Taiwan Strait have been authorized to operate direct cross-strait charter flights during the Chinese New Year holiday period. Each side will offer 72 charter flights between Taipei/Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Beijing/Shanghai/Guangzhou/Xiamen in China during the holiday period. Taiwan citizens with valid entry permits issued by the governments on both sides are eligible to take the special flights.

As Lunar New Year is just around the corner, operations of direct cross-strait charter flight services are in full swing. Also expected to land at Taiwan's CKS airport or Kaohsiung Airport will be flights offered by China Southern Air, Hainan Airlines, Air China International and China Eastern Air.

(Asia Pulse/CNA)

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