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BEIJING, Jan. 17
--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.
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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] |
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]
"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.
(Source: China Daily) | 
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