AIRLINES
Starlux to add Jakarta route
Starlux Airlines is to begin operating flights between Taoyuan and Jakarta in September, the carrier said on Wednesday. Starlux confirmed the news after speculation from Indonesia-based Taiwanese businesspeople and aviation enthusiasts about the new route. The route connecting Taiwan and the Indonesian capital is to operate five weekly flights using A321neo aircraft, with tickets set to go on sale soon, the airline said. EVA Air and China Airlines currently fly seven and 10 weekly flights respectively between the destinations.
AIRLINES
Airbus to upgrade cabins
Airbus on Wednesday said it had signed a letter of intent with China Airlines to upgrade the carrier’s A350 cabins with a new layout and amenities. Under the agreement, Airbus Services would oversee the installation of China Airlines’ latest Premium Business Class, Premium Economy Class and Economy Class seats on its fleet of 15 A350-900s, the company said in a statement. The retrofit is expected to cost about US$400 million, the airline said in a statement on March 8. However, the timing of the modification would depend on when the contract with Airbus is signed, the airline said. Airbus said that the upgrades would cover seating in all classes, in-flight infotainment systems and the cabin environment.
LABOR
Care program to resume
The Ministry of Labor is mapping out a plan to resume the suspended dispatched migrant caregiver program, which is set to be launched on a trial basis later this year, in one or two cities or counties, an official said on Wednesday. The program was suspended mainly because people eligible for the service were subject to the same criteria as those eligible to hire long-term migrant caregivers, which removed incentives for dispatched caregivers, Cross-Border Workforce Management Division head Paul Su (蘇裕國) said. However, this time the eligibility of users could be expanded to include families requiring urgent care services. In the early iteration of the program, only families with crucial care needs or individuals with severe mental or physical disabilities could apply for dispatched migrant caregivers, Su said. The plan is to be finalized after it has been discussed with the public, he said.
ENVIRONMENT
Bullfrogs euthanized
Taijiang National Park in Tainan has euthanized more than 4,000 banded bullfrogs since 2020 in an effort to prevent the non-indigenous species from reproducing, a park service staffer said on Wednesday. The non-native species makes a “loud noise” and is capable of adapting to different environments and laying more than 5,000 eggs at a time, making it necessary to control the population, the staffer said. The park began monitoring the frog species after it was first spotted in 2018 and one year later the population reached about 1,000. As a result, from 2020 to last year the park euthanized 4,212 frogs, the staffer said. The frogs are mainly found in southern Taiwan, especially Chengxi Windbreak Forest in the park. However, they have recently been sighted in central and northern areas, including Miaoli County. To raise public awareness of the species’ impact on local ecosystems, the park headquarters has held an annual educational gathering since 2020 to introduce people to the species and instruct people on how to catch them. This year’s event is to take place on June 29.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
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