Investors on Friday said that they are looking to raise NT$5 billion (US$166.5 million) to start an airline in Kinmen County by October.
Former Kinmen County councilor Chen Tsang-chiang (陳滄江) and businessman Tsai Chuan-cheng (蔡傳成) confirmed the plan while making a donation to a local vocational high-school baseball team.
Chen and Tsai, conveners of the preparatory committee to form Kinmen Airlines, said that if everything goes well, they would hold an establishment ceremony in October.
As Kinmen is less than 10km from China, far closer than it is to Taiwan, Tsai said that establishing an airline there would enable local residents to “fly across the Taiwan Strait and explore the whole world.”
“Given that a large number of families from Kinmen live in Southeast Asian countries, it is critical that the county has its own airline to serve its people through a more comprehensive air travel network,” he said.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic hitting global air travel markets hard, he said that the committee has proceeded with the plan and expects to unveil the airline’s logo next month and start a five-phase development project in October.
Kinmen Airlines would help connect the county to the rest of the world and create work opportunities for residents who might otherwise have to move out of the region for employment, Tsai said.
The investors did not announce what aircraft they anticipate using, but in March said they would probably start with the same ATR aircraft used on routes between Taiwan proper and Kinmen.
Only Taipei-based Uni Air (立榮航空) and Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) operate regular flights between Kinmen and Taiwan proper, making it difficult to travel between the two sides, especially during peak holiday seasons, they said.
To fly overseas, Kinmen residents must first transfer in Taipei or another city in Taiwan, they added.
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