China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) would prioritize adding direct flights to Prague and Vienna in the second half of next year due to increasing demand, CAL president Kao Shing-hwang (高星潢) said.
During an interview in Hamburg, Germany, Kao said CAL flights to Europe this year have been more than 85 percent full and that 80 percent of seats over the Christmas peak season have been sold.
The airline is now looking to increase the number of flights to the continent, he said.
Photo courtesy of China Airlines Ltd
The goal is to increase the number of flights to Prague from two to five per week and to Vienna from four to six per week in the second half of next year, as CAL aims to have 30 flights to Europe weekly, Kao said.
However, adding more flights depends on when new aircraft are delivered, he said.
CAL is the only airline that operates direct flights from Taipei to Prague.
Since the launch of the flights last year, the occupancy rate has reached 90 percent.
Apart from tourists, the route has also attracted business travelers to nearby cities, including the German cities of Nuremberg and Dresden, Kao said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) broke ground in August on a factory in Dresden.
China Airlines currently flies to six places in Europe from Taiwan: Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Vienna, London, Rome and Prague.
It is the Taiwanese airline with the most destinations and direct flights to Europe.
With a fleet of 82 aircraft and 560 flights per week, CAL’s net profit in the first three quarters of this year reached a record NT$10.37 billion (US$319.4 million), up 50.3 percent from a year earlier.
The company’s full-year profit is expected to remain high due to peak season effects in the fourth quarter, Kao said.
Asked if the company’s year-end bonuses would break the record of being equal to six months of salary, Kao said: “I hope employees will be very satisfied,” without elaborating.
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