Airline assistance extended

In response to the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks in the US on domestic airlines, the Legislative Yuan yesterday passed rules to extend by two months government assistance to the industry.

The measures provide guarantees for excessive liability insurance beginning on Oct. 26.

The government has also agreed to let airlines flying over the war zone to apply for government permission to fly over Chinese air space to avoid the risk areas as well as for safety and cost-saving purposes.

China has reportedly agreed fully to letting Taiwanese aircraft pass through Chinese air space, according to Elmer Feng (馮滬祥), a New Party legislator, who headed a delegation of senior executives of six Taiwan carriers to meet with Chinese civil aviation officials earlier this month.

During negotiations last Friday, the DPP caucus first opposed the measure due to China's treatment of Taiwan at the APEC meeting. Opposition parties, however, were of the opinion that airline company and passenger interests were involved, and said that if the DPP did not agree, they would not sign the government war risk insurance guarantee.

After asking for instructions from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Mainland Affairs Council, an agreement was finally reached, but only after specifying that applications have to be submitted to the government, to avoid the misunderstanding that airlines should apply for permission from the Chinese government.

Flying over other nations' airspace involves first freedom traffic rights (第一航權), and related negotiations are always handled by foreign affairs officials in the concerned countries.

But negotiations regarding flying over Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese airspace fall under the "Statute Governing Relations Between The People On The Two Sides of The Taiwan Strait" (兩岸人民關係條例) and is the responsibility of the Mainland Affairs Council, with the ministry being responsible only for technical support, according to the transportation ministry.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) said the conclusion of negotiations between various parties was that airlines could submit their applications, but that the decision of whether or not to approve requests was entirely up to the Cabinet.