More than 200 Taiwanese tourists traveling to and from Angkor Wat in Cambodia were delayed yesterday after Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) unexpectedly suspended its flights to the world heritage site.
The Taiwanese airline, which resumed services in April last year, leased one of its aircraft and cabin crew to Tonlesap Airlines in Cambodia, which offers charter flights to Angkor Wat.
However, the Cambodian carrier has failed to pay FAT accumulated fuel charges of NT$3 million (US$100,000), FAT said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
FAT’s decision to suspend the flights delayed trips for 255 Taiwanese tourists, Tonlesap Airlines said.
FAT spokesperson Kevin Yang (楊天佑) said the company had been trying to collect the charges from Tonlesap, but the Cambodian carrier had ignored the requests.
“The payment was due on Monday and Tonlesap has not paid the money owed. We decided to stop the service,” Yang said, adding that the company was a victim as well.
Tonlesap denies the allegations. The Cambodian airline said in a statement that it had paid FAT about NT$4.43 million as a guarantee, adding that a dispute remained over about NT$1 million.
Tonlesap said it had tried to negotiate with FAT, but it had yet to receive any goodwill response from the Taiwanese company.
“We sent a legal attestation letter to FAT on Monday requesting it to resolve the dispute based on the terms of the contract,” Tonlesap said in a statement. “FAT’s unilateral act has damaged the interests of the passengers. We will actively protect the passengers and seek restitution from FAT.”
The unexpected move by FAT angered tourists who had arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport early in the morning to catch the flight.
“If they wanted to cancel the flight, they should have told us at least a day in advance,” an angry female passenger told a reporter. “Now we’re here and have already taken days off from work and they tell us the flight has been canceled. What’s this?”
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said Tonlesap had dispatched a Boeing 737-200 aircraft to carry the Taiwanese passengers back to Taiwan, which was scheduled to arrive at Taoyuan at 7:15pm yesterday, adding that the Cambodian airline must bring back all the stranded Taiwanese tourists at Angkor Wat who were scheduled to board its flight.
The CAA has also asked Tonlesap to provide a copy of its flight schedule from now until the end of this month so that it could monitor its service.
The CAA added that while it would not intervene in the dispute, it would accept passenger complaints and help them seek compensation from Tonlesap.
The agency said that while it had heard rumors of the dispute between the two airlines, it did not expect FAT to suspend the flight service this way.
FAT said that Tonlesap is run by Alex Lou (樓文豪), who is accused of involvement in siphoning funds belonging to FAT three years ago.
After being detained for two months, Lou was released on NT$4 million bail and barred from leaving the country.
FAT said that it then sought compensation of NT$790 million from Lou after the airline resumed operations last year. Lou then convinced FAT he could help the carrier expand its operations by negotiating aviation agreements with Cambodia, Palau and other countries, and was able to go to these countries because of the petition from FAT, it said.
Aside from the unpaid bills, FAT also accused Lou of insider trading of FAT shares and transferring those gains to Tonlesap and other airlines he owns, adding that it had requested prosecutors to investigate Lou.
The CAA said FAT’s finances were not sound, adding that it had failed to keep a cash flow of NT$150 million, one of the main requirements the CAA had insisted on for FAT to continue operations.
‘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
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and