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| Air China planes at Beijing Capital
International Airport. Taipei and Beijing have agreed to allow
direct flights across Taiwan Straits for next month's Chinese Lunar
New Year holidays. (AFP) |
Airlines from the Chinese mainland are gearing up
to operate charter flights across the Taiwan Straits following a landmark
deal inked
on
Saturday.
Air carriers -- including Air China, China Eastern, China Southern,
Shanghai Airlines and Xiamen Airlines -- confirmed to China Daily that
they are all interested in conducting flights although they have not yet
been given nod from the nation's industry watchdog.
"We have made full preparations for non-stop, round-trip charters,
including market investigations, crew arrangements and air services," Cai
Zhizhou, an official from the China Southern Airlines said yesterday.
Further negotiations about ground services, air control and air routes
are to be held with related departments in Taiwan, said Cai with the
Guangzhou-based airlines in South China's Guangdong Province.
So far, which airlines will be designated to operate the charter
flights is still not known. But insiders have listed Air China, China
Southern, Xiamen Airlines and China Eastern as possible candidates from
the mainland.
Taiwan airlines could include China Airlines, EVA Air, TransAsia
Airways and Far East Air Transport Corp, Mandarin Airlines and UNI Airways
Corp, according to Taiwan media reports.
If approved, China Eastern will use 300-seat Airbus A340-600 aircraft
to carry passengers, said Luo Chaogeng, the airlines' president.
As a pilot with 32 years of flying experiences, Luo hopes to fly the
first non-stop flight to Taiwan with his colleagues.
Zhang Huilin, an official from the Xiamen Airlines headquartered in
East China's Fujian Province, said her company feels it is "a great pity"
that Taiwan has refused to make Xiamen a destination -- which was included
in the mainland's charter flight plan proposal.
Zhang's airlines has been negotiating with its Taiwanese counterpart
TransAsia Airways over the charter flights for several years, but got no
response from the Taiwan authorities.
It has won the approval to fly over Hong Kong's air traffic control
area for its planned direct charter flights across the Taiwan Straits,
said Zhang.
According to Zhang, the air ticket price will be around 4,000 yuan
(US$480) from Beijing to Taipei and 3,000-plus yuan (US$360) from Shanghai
to Taipei for the direct flights, saving one-fourth the ticket expense.
"Four hours will also be saved from the trip with the direct flight,"
Zhang said.
(China Daily) | 
Updated: 2005-01-17 11:07