Travelers to the UK now have more flexibility when they plan their flights because Taiwan and the UK have agreed to increase the frequency of passenger and cargo flights between the two countries, the Civil Aeronautics Administration announced yesterday.
A new aviation pact signed by Taiwan’s Representative to the UK Katharine Chang (張小月) and British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) Director David Campbell on Wednesday allows Taiwanese carriers China Airlines (CAL) and EVA Airways (EVA) to service a total of 21 passenger flights to the UK each week. Flights to London will be increased from 10 to 14 per week.
The new pact also enables CAL and EVA to service seven passenger flights per week from Taipei to Manchester.
In addition, the carriers can increase the number of cargo flights to Manchester from three to 10 per week. The number of cargo flights to London will remain at three per week.
The administration said the added flights could start from March 27 next year, when the airlines announce their summer flight schedules.
Taiwan and the UK signed their first formal aviation pact in November last year, replacing a 1992 agreement signed by the Taipei Airlines Association with British Airways.
The two started negotiating a new aviation pact in June because demand for flights between two countries increased following last year’s decision by the UK to waive visa requirements for Taiwanese tourists.
CAL currently provides three non-stop passenger flights to London and three cargo flights to Manchester per week, with stopovers in New Delhi or Luxembourg.
EVA offers seven passenger flights to London via Bangkok and three cargo flights to London per week. Neither CAL nor EVA offer passenger flights to Manchester.
Civil Aeronautics Administration Director of Planning Betty Cheng (程嘉莉) said the four new flights to London would be equally distributed between CAL and EVA.
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