An increase in flights to Seattle this year is expected to increase the number of US-bound tourists from Taiwan to about 393,000, or 78.6 percent of the number recorded in 2019, statistics from the US National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) showed.
Four airlines now operate flights from Taiwan to Seattle and the number of flights has doubled from last year.
Of those airlines, China Airlines operates 119 flights to the west coast of the US after the addition of a Taipei-Seattle route that was launched yesterday.
Photo:Yao Chieh-hsiu, Taipei Times
Seattle is the northernmost destination for flights from Taiwan to the western US. EVA Air was the first to launch flights between Taipei and Seattle in 1993, while China Airlines previously operated flights to and from Seattle from 2004 to 2008.
US carrier Delta Air Lines on Sunday last week launched a Taipei-Seattle route, with flights offered seven times per week between the cities.
Meanwhile, EVA Air on June 25 increased flights on its Seattle route to 10 times per week, and StarLux Airlines is expected to launch flights to and from the US city on Aug. 16, starting with three flights per week.
The addition of the StarLux flights would bring the total number of flights between Taipei and Seattle up to 25 per week, and passengers would have at least three flights per day to choose from.
Other US west-coast destinations from Taiwan include Los Angeles (with some flights to Ontario International Airport), San Francisco and Seattle. There are also flights to and from Chicago, Houston and New York.
The passenger load factor on flights to and from the US was more than 90 percent last year, Civil Aviation Administration data showed.
Booking records from China Airlines, EVA Air and StarLux show that many flights to the US are fully booked during the summer vacation, and business class is more popular than economy class on most of those flights.
The total number of foreign tourists to the US this year is expected to reach 77.7 million, a year-on-year increase of 10.4 million, NTTO Taiwan representative Luo Shih-wen (羅世玟) said yesterday.
The figure is forecast to reach 85.2 million next year, Luo added.
Of those visiting the US this year, about 393,000 would be from Taiwan, compared with 499,520 in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic slowed global travel, she said.
China Airlines said it is optimistic that travel demand for US destinations is growing in Taiwan, and direct flights to Seattle are an important step toward it expanding its North American network.
“The total number of passengers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport last year exceeded 50 million, making it the largest airport in the northwest region of the US,” the airline said in a statement.
“China Airlines has planted its flag in Seattle with the launch of direct flights,” it said.
Separately, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Institute of Transportation said that more work is needed to promote Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport as a hub for people traveling between the US and other destinations in Asia.
An increase in the frequency of flights between Taiwan and major US cities could facilitate that, the institute said.
For example, Washington and Boston have the greatest potential as destinations that could spur use of Taoyuan airport as a key hub, it said, adding that about 200,000 passengers travel annually between Taiwan and those cities
Atlanta has nearly 180,000 passengers from Taiwan, Newark has about 150,000 and Dallas about 140,000, the institute said.
China Airlines and EVA Air have both said that they would evaluate new destinations in the US market based on the delivery schedule of new aircraft.
StarLux Airlines, which flies only to San Francisco and Los Angeles in the US, said it also plans to expand to cities in eastern and central US.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS