The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) announced yesterday that cross-strait regular flights would be officially launched on Aug. 31.
The regular flight service was first mentioned in the agreement signed after the third round of cross-strait talks in April.
Both Taiwan and China agreed to raise the weekly number of flights from 108 to 270. The flights will be offered daily and jointly provided by airlines from both sides.
Meanwhile, the cross-strait flight service will be available from 27 cities in China, including six newly added airports in Jinan, Guiyang, Nanchang, Harbin, Hefei and Haikou.
The CAA also said that nine Chinese airlines have applied to operate the cross-strait flights, including three newcomers; Sichuan Airlines, Shandong Air and Shenzhen Airlines. Flights operated by Chinese airlines will land in either in Taipei or Taoyuan.
Flights from Taiwanese airlines have chosen to land in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin, and Ningbo and several other airports where there is demand for a cross-strait flight service.
The announcement came after both sides completed months of negotiations on the appropriate date to launch the flights. While China had already set Aug. 31 as the date for the commencement of regular flights, Taiwan wanted the services to start sooner.
Until last month, CAA director Lee Long-wen (李龍文) had said that the service could start some time before Aug. 31.
The proposal, however, was rejected by the Chinese aviation authority.
Lee had said that China wanted to regulate the cross-strait regular flights using a special aviation law, which explained why it took so long to implement.
Starting last month, some domestic airlines began taking reservations for cross-strait regular flights.
Lee has also asked domestic airlines to lower ticket prices for cross-strait flights, including flights to Shanghai.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS