Mainland and Taiwan ink deal in flying start

By Lydia Chen  |   2008-6-14  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE Chinese mainland and Taiwan signed a landmark deal yesterday to start chartered weekend flights across the Taiwan Strait and gave approval for mainland travelers to visit the island.

The deal includes a total of 36 return flights every Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The number will increase according to demand.

The weekend flights will start from July 4. Mainland and Taiwan airlines will each operate 18 flights, according to the deal signed in Beijing yesterday by Chen Yunlin, chairman of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, and Chiang Pin-kun, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation.

Shanghai is among the first five cities listed for flights on the mainland side along with Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Nanjing.

Cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Dalian, Guilin and Shenzhen may get Taiwan flights in the future.

On the Taiwan side, the eight terminals are Taoyuan County, Siao-gang District in Kaohsiung City, Cingcyuangang Airport in Taichung County, Taipei Songshan Airport, Makung City in Penghu County, Hualien, Kinmen and Taitung.

Return flights between Shanghai and Taiwan will be limited to nine trips each week, while return flights from the mainland to Cingcyuangang Airport in Taichung will be limited to six trips per week.

All passengers with legal passes to travel across the Strait can take the flights, according to the deal.

Airlines will set up offices on the other side within six months.

The two sides promised to start talks on chartered cargo flights three months after the operation of these flights and will try to settle the issue of direct flights between the mainland and the island as soon as possible, and before that all the weekend flights have to fly over Hong Kong.

The deal will allow millions of mainland travelers to visit Taiwan by the chartered weekend flights which is sure to boost the island's economy.

The first mainland tour groups to Taiwan from 13 areas will start arriving on the island from July 18. They will be from Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and Chongqing cities and provinces of Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, Yunnan and Shaanxi.

As many as 3,000 mainland tourists can visit the island per day and the number of travelers in each group is supposed to range between 10 and 40. Their stay in Taiwan should be 10 days at most, according to the deal. The quota may change next year.

The deal is welcome news for airlines. China Southern Airlines said it will sign an agreement with Taiwan-based China Airlines on June 23 for cooperation on direct flights between Taiwan and the mainland.

Air China and Shanghai Airlines said they are also prepared for the cross-Strait flights.

Zhou Chi, chairman of Shanghai Airlines, said the carrier will work with Taiwan airlines and airports to offer quality services.

Air China will choose five aircraft for weekend chartered flights. It will also send a team to Taipei tomorrow to talk with officials form China Airlines and EVA Airways.