Regular cross-strait flights were officially launched yesterday, with several services experiencing low occupancy rates.
“The occupancy rates on flights to Chinese airports that have just begun to offer cross-strait flight services are low,” said Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) director-general Lee Lung-wen (李龍文).
Lee said that five domestic airlines had lowered ticket prices as per the CAA’s request. The number of regular tickets bought online dropped by between 3 percent and 20 percent compared with charter flights.
However, Lee said that regular flights to Shanghai could only drop by about 1 percent because the Chinese government has capped the number of cross-strait flights departing and landing in the city.
Yesterday, both China Airlines (CAL,中華航空) and EVA Airways (EVA, 長榮航空) operated 10 and nine cross-strait flights respectively. EVA’s flights to Shanghai had an occupancy rate of 98 percent. Flights to Ningbo and Qingdao also had more than 80 percent of seats filled.
CAL’s flights to Beijing and Shanghai were also packed. Its new services to Ningbo, Zhengzhou and Xian also had 90 percent seat occupancy.
Flights to Xiamen and Guangzhou dispatched by both airlines had around 60 percent to 70 percent occupancy.
China Southern Airlines dispatched six flights from Guangzhou, Shanghai, Guiyang, Guilin, Shenyang and Zhengzhou.
Airlines in China and Taiwan decided last week not to hold any inauguration ceremonies or festive events to celebrate the launch of regular cros=s-strait flight services because they considered it would be inappropriate in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.
In related news, some travel industry representatives yesterday expressed concern that the visit of the Dalai Lama might affect numbers of Chinese tourists.
Roget Hsu (?y), secretary-general of the Travel Agent Association, said that the nation receives an average of 1,000 applications per day for the entry of Chinese tourists, about 50 percent less than the industry had hoped.
“Aside from the disaster caused by Typhoon Morakot, and H1N1, the Dalai Lama’s visit might have an impact on the market,” Hsu said.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
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