The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) has approved an application by Far Eastern Air Transport Corp to resume services after more than two years of suspension because of financial troubles, the CAA said yesterday.
CAA Director-General Yin Chen-pong (尹承蓬) confirmed the approval of the application, saying it was likely that the carrier would return to the market during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Feb. 2.
The carrier has submitted a financial plan with the CAA in a bid to win approval to fly again. The CAA will be watching closely how the company carries out its financial plan after it restarts its business.
According to the CAA, while the application for business resumption has been approved, the agency will conduct further inspections on the carrier’s preparations for restarting services before allowing ticket sales.
The inspections, which are scheduled to start next week, will include screening ticket prices, examinations of inflight equipment and aircraft take-off and landing, and a review of the operations of the carrier’s check-in counters.
Two of the airline’s three MD83 planes have undergone a test flight program, but the two aircraft are not allowed to carry passengers.
Yin suggested Far Eastern Air seek approval first to provide charter flight services during the Lunar New Year holidays if the carrier needs more time to prepare for the resumption of regular flights.
The carrier said it would file an application to fly between Taipei and the Kinmen during the six-day holiday period, which is peak season for the air transportation sector.
Far Eastern Air’s flight operations were suspended in May 2008 amid financial difficulties and wage disputes.
The airline reportedly had debts of more than NT$10 billion (US$340.5 million) when it requested bankruptcy protection in February 2008 in the biggest crisis it had encountered since it was set up in 1957.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS