A new sea-air combined route to Taiwan was developed upon the recent cooperation between the Haixia ferry, a passenger ship sailing between Pingtan and Taiwan, and Fuzhou Airlines, with the idea of bringing more convenience to cross-Straits tourists.

Visitors on the Chinese mainland can first fly Fuzhou Airlines to Fuzhou, then come to Pintan to take the Haixia ferry to Taiwan with a joint ticket, said Dong Bin, general manager of the Haixia High-Speed Roll-on and Roll-off Passenger Shipping Co, owner of the Haixia ferry.

Dong further explained that this route is expected to attract more Taiwan and mainland tourists who are interested in cross-Straits trips, due to its advantages of time-saving and lower costs.

The ferry company will soon cooperate with Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines and West Air, which are subsidiaries of China's aviation and shipping conglomerate HNA Group, to promote this sea-air combined transportation model, Dong added.

This model, integrating with the already-launched sea-rail combined model, will contribute to the exchanges between people across the Straits.