US carrier Delta Air Lines has announced that it plans to launch direct daily flights between its Seattle hub and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in June next year, as the airline expands its Asia network.
“This strategic addition to Delta’s trans-Pacific portfolio is poised to make a profound impact on the Seattle market, fostering increased business and leisure travel opportunities for our discerning customers,” the US-based carrier said in a statement dated Thursday.
Pending government approval, Delta said it would deploy Airbus A330-900neo planes on the route, with the inaugural flight departing from Seattle on June 6 and Taoyuan the following day.
Photo courtesy of Delta Air Lines via CNA
The Taipei-Seattle route would mark Delta’s return to the Taiwanese market, following its cancelation of flights between Taoyuan airport and Narita International Airport in Tokyo in May 2017.
It would also make Delta the second US carrier to operate direct flights between Taiwan and the US after United Airlines, which operates two daily round-trip flights on its Taoyuan-San Francisco route.
Currently, the Taoyuan-Seattle route is only served by Taiwanese carrier EVA Airways with 10 weekly flights.
China Airlines’ Taipei branch office general manager Solomon Lee (李宜洲) on Friday said that the Taoyuan-based carrier is likely to resume services on the route next year, depending on the delivery of aircraft leased for long-haul flights.
Starlux Airlines, another Taiwanese international carrier, plans to launch passenger services on the Taoyuan-Seattle route in the third quarter of next year, company spokesperson Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) said.
Starlux previously announced its plan to expand services between Taiwan and the US, and the company would begin services on its second US route between Taoyuan and San Francisco on Saturday next week.
Delta has three direct trans-Pacific destinations — Incheon in South Korea, Naneda in Tokyo, Japan and Shanghai Pudong in China, it said in the statement.
‘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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS