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Participants applaud
during the stamp-issuing ceremony held by the State Administration of
Postal Services of the special stamps marking the first non-stop charter
flights across Taiwan Strait at the Capital International Airport in
Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 29, 2005. Air China's charter flights set
off from mainland to Taiwan on Saturday, carrying Taiwan business people
aboard for their homeward journey before the Spring Festival, or the
Chinese lunar new year. The flights were the first civil aircrafts from
the Chinese mainland to Taiwan in the past 56 years. (Xinhua Photo/Zhang
Xu)
Flight Number MU579 of
China Eastern Airlines for the non-stop charter flight from the mainland
to Taiwan Province takes off at east China's Shanghai Pudong Airport Jan.
29, 2005. The flight took off here to Taiwan at 9:00 a.m. Saturday,
carrying Taiwan business people aboard for their homeward journey before
the Spring Festival, or the Chinese lunar new year. It was one of the
first civil aircrafts from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan in the past 56
years. (Xinhua Photo/Zhang Ming)
A Taiwanese passenger
shows his boarding check to board the non-stop charter flight from the
mainland to Taiwan Province at the Capital International Airport in
Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 29, 2005. (Xinhua Photo/Jing
Lei)
Taiwanese passengers
look back as they board a plane of Air China for the first non-stop
charter flight from the mainland to Taiwan Province at the Capital
International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 29, 2005. (Xinhua
Photo/Zhang Xu)
Stewardess of Air China
get ready for the non-stop charter flight across the Taiwan Strait in
Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 29, 2005. (Xinhua Photo/Wang Yongji)
Pan Jialiang (1st L), a
Taiwanese business man, receives a bouquet after finishing his boarding
procedure for the first non-stop charter flight across the Taiwan Strait
in Guangzhou Baiyun Airport of Guangzhou, capital of South China's
Guangdong Province Jan. 29, 2005. (Xinhua photo/Zhuang Jin)
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BEIJING/TAIPEI, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Civil aviation
sectors across the Taiwan Straits broke a half-century isolation Saturday with a
smooth exchange of non-stop, round-trip charter flights linking multiple
metropolises in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.
Air China charter flight CA1087, which departed from
the Beijing Capital Airport at 8 a.m. Saturday for Taipei, was the first
mainland jet to take off. Some 88 passengers aboard the plane were all Taiwan
businesspeople and their families homebound for traditional family reunion
during the upcoming Spring Festival,or the Chinese lunar new year.
But, charter flight CZ3097 of the China Southern
Airlines with 242 passengers aboard, which left Guangzhou almost the same time
as the Air China flight, was the first mainland aircraft to land in Taiwan after
a 90-minute journey.
"We will break the 56-year-long isolation between
civil aviation sectors across the Straits in only 100 minutes," Hao Jianhua,
chief pilot of the flight, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview ahead of the
maiden flight.
And it actually took even less time. The plane, which
took off from the Guangzhou airport at around 8 a.m. Saturday, touched downat
about 9:27 a.m. in Taipei.
"We have made history," said a senior manager of
China Southern Airlines. "This was the first time since 1949 that the mainland
jetliner headed for Taiwan in normal commercial flights."
Charter flight CI581 of Taiwan-based China Airlines,
carrying more than 200 passengers, landed at the Beijing Capital Airport
Saturday noon after a nearly-4-hour non-stop flight. The Taiwan passengers were
all relatives of Taiwan businesspeople staying in the mainland, who had come for
family reunions during the Spring Festival holidays.
It previously took around 10 hours to make the same
trip, which included a compulsory stopover in either Hong Kong or Macao due to
restrictions of the Taiwan authorities.
Arriving passengers at each side of the Strait were
warmly greeted by local officials, anticipating families and relatives, as well
as traditional Chinese performances, such as lion dances and beating of gongs
and drums.
"I'm very pleased to witness this historic moment.
The charter flight was very convenient," a China Southern Airlines passenger
Chen Zhonghe, a Taiwan businessman who has run a ceramics plant inthe mainland
for 15 years, told local media upon his arrival in Taipei.
The first ever civil airplane from the mainland was
given a red carpet welcome at the airport, which was decorated with colorful
balloons and large picture posters.
At the Beijing Capital Airport, Wang Xiaoping, chief
pilot of Airbus 333 of the Taiwan-based China Airlines, told Xinhua: "Though I'm
a veteran staff of China Airlines with a 16-year flying experience, I still feel
very excited as this is my first flight to the mainland."
On Saturday, a total of 7 charter flights of 6
mainland carriers departed from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou respectively,
and landed in Taiwan's Kaohsiung and Taipei successively. The Taiwan-based EVA
Airways also ran one charter flight between Taipei and Beijing.
The flights unveiled the curtain of a three-week-long
special charter flight scheme, under which 12 airlines of the mainland and
Taiwan would run 48 non-stop, round-trip flights exclusively for the Taiwan
businesspeople and their families.
The mainland and Taiwan civil aviation professionals
reached consensus about the launch of the charter flights earlier this month in
Macao. The two sides agreed to run the flights from Jan. 29 to Feb. 20 between
mainland cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and Taiwan's Taipei and
Kaohsiung.
The charter flights were warmly welcomed by the
Taiwan businesspeople and their relatives. China Southern Airlines sources
revealed that some of the passengers on board its plane had booked round-trip
tickets simply to bear witness to this important journey. "They would also be on
the plane when it returns in the afternoon," said the sources.
The international community have also shown
enthusiasm toward the successful non-stop commercial flights.
"We welcome cross-Straits flights during the Chinese
New Year holiday period," the State Department of the United States said ina
statement.
In 2003, Taiwan civil jetliners were allowed for the
first time since 1949 to fly to the mainland under a similar charter flight
scheme. However, due to restrictions of the Taiwan authorities, the flights had
to make stopovers in Hong Kong or Macao and no mainland airlines were involved.
It is estimated that there are now more than 700,000
Taiwan businesspeople investing in the mainland and staying here for most time
of the year.
Quite a few home-going Taiwan businesspeople also
complained that the current charter flights were not as direct and convenient as
what they had expected.
"This time all charter flights still need to fly via
the Hong Kong air space. Next time we hope we can take a more direct route and
be spared of any unnecessary detour," said Ye Huide, president of the Shanghai
Taiwan Investors Association, in an interview with China Central Television
Saturday.
"We also hope that the charter flights scheme can
cover all Taiwan people in the mainland, not just the businesspeople," Ye
added.
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