First weekend chartered flight arrives in Taiwan

By Winny Wang  |   2008-7-4  |     ONLINE EDITION

SHANGHAI Airlines sent a Boeing 757 jet on the city's first weekend chartered flight to Taiwan this morning.

The 175-seat aircraft was carrying 159 passengers when it took off at 8:50am. It reached Taipei Songshan Airport at 11:50am.

The carrier provided Taiwanese food during the trip, including sam bui chicken and minced pork congee with a preserved egg.

Alex Lee, the new director of the Taiwan Merchant Association of Shanghai, was the first passenger to check-in for the flight.

He said it is only a five-minute drive between his home and Songshan Airport, compared with a one-hour drive when indirect flights land at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

"I am looking forward to real direct flights between the mainland and Taiwan which can save more time, fuel costs and money," Lee said.

The mainland and Taiwan would start discussing direct flights across the Taiwan Strait "as soon as possible," but until then, all chartered flights will have to fly over Hong Kong, according to a minute of talks signed 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.

"It will take just over an hour to fly from Shanghai to Taiwan without a detour in Hong Kong, and the ticket price will be lowered at that time," said Fan Hongxi, president of the airline.

"The mainland has prepared for real direct flights and we have set up preparation offices in Taiwan," Fan said.

It requires half a year to turn preparation offices into agencies, which is a necessity for the inauguration of direct flights, Fan said.