The first Chinese airplane to land in Taiwan in 56 years arrived yesterday morning at CKS International Airport to a festive, if slightly chaotic, scene.
Calling the launch of the non-stop charter flights to and from Taipei, Kaohsiung, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai a historic moment, the first passengers from China arrived on a China Southern Airlines flight from Guangzhou at 9:30am yesterday morning.
PHOTO:SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Similarly, Taiwan's first flight to China was operated by China Airlines and arrived in Beijing at 11:58am.
Taishang (China-based Taiwanese businesspeople) disembarking in Taiwan were immediately greeted with a traditional lion dance, loud drumming, and bright posters reading "Welcome Home," -- as well as hordes of reporters, government officials and legislators.
Chinese pilots and cabin crew were presented with large bouquets of flowers as they stepped into Taipei for a rare visit.
The politically significant Beijing-Taipei flight was also accorded special attention yesterday. China's flag carrier, Air China, arrived in Taipei from Beijing at 11:45am yesterday, almost an hour earlier than scheduled.
The Air China carrier had removed the Chinese flag from the airplane so as not to cause political provocation during the first flight to Taipei, but kept the flag on other flights to Kaohsiung.
According to the Mainland Affairs Council's records, a total of 1,173 passengers arrived on the first six flights into Taiwan yesterday morning, 46 of them landing in Kaohsiung.
Another 145 members of the cabin crew also arrived. Passengers aboard the six flights, two each from Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing, were greeted by government officials and treated to an on-the-spot cocktail party in the terminal.
Cake, champagne, and presents marked the occasion. In total, more than 2,000 passengers boarded cross-strait flights yesterday.
The charter flights, arranged as a service for Taiwanese businesspeople returning home for the Lunar New Year holidays, are slated to run through mid-February.
While similar chartered flights were operated for the first time two years ago, carriers then had to make stops in Hong Kong or Macau.
Flights were not operated last year.
This year's flights have been seen as a political breakthrough due to the unprecedented participation of Chinese carriers in chartered flights, the addition of several departure and arrival ports, and the lifting of stopover requirements. While flights had to fly through Hong Kong's airspace en route to Taiwan or China this year, they did not have to actually land in Hong Kong. Carriers were also able to provide round-trip service, picking up passengers on both legs of the flight for the first time.
"This indicates that political differences can be set aside, that there can be mutual respect and that we can work by seeking truth from facts," MAC Vice Chairman Chiu Tai-san (
"I hope that this success will be used to bring about cooperation on other issues and that it will not be an isolated case," Chiu said.
Civil Aeronautics Administration Director General Billy Chang (張國政) agreed that yesterday's achievement should be the basis for future, regularly scheduled cross-strait service.
The US State Department also lauded the cross-strait flights yesterday.
"We welcome cross-strait flights during the [Lunar] New Year holiday period. We believe improving cross-strait economic ties, including cross-strait flights, serves the interest of both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China, and is conducive to peace and security in the region," State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said in response to a question asked during a daily press briefing.
The Taiwanese businesspeople and their family members who had taken the flights yesterday also praised the flights, saying they were cheaper and faster. Samuel Kuo (郭山輝), Chairman of the Taiwan Businessmen Association of Dongguan, went so far as to say that the chartered flights were "a small step for taishang, a giant leap for mankind." Several others expressed hope that the three links between Taiwan and China could be inaugurated as soon as possible.
Several members of the association had taken the first flight into Taipei only to stay for lunch, as they had to return to work. The exuberant association members were decked out in specially designed commemorative vests and baseball caps, which they asked cabin crew and officials to sign.
The celebratory atmosphere was only marred by questions about the verification of passengers' identity. While only verified taishang and their immediate family members were supposed to be allowed on the flights, a woman surnamed Sung, along with two children and a Filipino nanny, yesterday boarded an EVA Airways flight to Beijing.
According to Sung, her husband in Beijing is not Taiwanese. The MAC said that it will follow up on the incident, admitting that verification of the identity of passengers flying to Beijing was a little rushed. He said that Sung was related to a taishang working in Beijing.
Chiu and Chang also responded to speculation about the arrival of the Air China flight almost one hour ahead of schedule yesterday morning, saying that wind direction and air traffic in Hong Kong's airspace were possible explanations for the early arrival.
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