A direct flight service between Taiwan and the Czech Republic is expected to be launched in July, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said on Friday.
The new route would have two regular flights per week between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague, Wang told lawmakers during a legislative interpellation session.
Taiwan has already received commercial aviation rights for the route, while the applications for each flight information region are still in progress, Wang said.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications and China Airlines, Taiwan’s main carrier, have mulled the establishment of direct flights between the two countries for more than five years, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) wrote on Facebook.
Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil has been looking forward to the establishment of direct flight services between the two countries, You said, adding that they met during You’s visit to the European nation in July last year.
After returning to Taiwan, You asked authorities to speed up the evaluation on the establishment of direct flights between the two countries, he said.
In September last year, a delegation led by Czech Senator Jiri Drahos visited Taiwan, during which he expressed enthusiasm for direct flights to be established between the two countries.
Although Taiwan and the Czech Republic signed an air services agreement in October 2007, there have been no direct flights between them, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said.
China Airlines said it was optimistic about the new route, and that preparations are under way to launch the direct flight service in July.
The airline would operate two flights per week between the two countries, it said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS