United Airlines on Wednesday announced that it is to resume flights between Taipei and San Francisco on Nov. 3 after the service was suspended on March 20.
The direct service would be provided using Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, with flights departing from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 1:10pm on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, United said.
Those from San Francisco would leave at 8:20am on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, the airline said.
The Chicago-based carrier suspended Taipei-San Francisco flights as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened and governments imposed quarantine requirements, significantly lowering flight loads.
“We are glad to resume direct flight services between Taipei and San Francisco, which shows our strong determination to continue our service in Taiwan,” United Airlines managing director for greater China and Korea Walter Dias said in a statement. “We pride ourselves for offering passengers reliable and convenient flight services in the US for more than 30 years. Through the direct flight service, passengers can quickly transit through one of our hubs, San Francisco International Airport, to 40 other cities in the US.”
Ticket holders can change travel dates multiple times through Dec. 31 without being charged processing fees, the airline said.
People would be prohibited from boarding a flight if they do not wear a mask, United Airlines said, adding that they are also expected to wear a mask throughout the flight except when eating or drinking.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach