Airlines tell Beijing too little, too late

Direct charter flights between Taiwan and China for the Lunar New Year holidays might be too late to arrange, local air carriers said unanimously Wednesday, after Beijing said it would allow Taiwanese airlines to launch such flights during upcoming holidays which begin on Jan. 22.

A spokesman for the the Taipei Airlines Association (北市航空運輸公會) said that the carriers are worried that bookings would be scarce even if the charter flight plan were to be approved by both governments within a few days.

The association official made the remarks after Pu Zhaozhou (蒲照洲), head of the Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau Affairs Department of the Civil Aviation Adminstration of China (CAAC), said earlier Wednesday in Beijing that if Taiwan approved bilateral charter flights for next year, China would agree to allow Taiwanese carriers to operate one-sided charter flights during the upcoming holidays without having to make stopover in a third place.

"If Taiwan can promise that next year it will allow [Chinese] airlines to launch charter flights to Taiwan [during the Chinese New Year holidays], we can allow Taiwanese airlines to fly directly from Taipei and Kaoshiung to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen," Pu told a news conference.

Because of Taiwan's ban on air links, Taiwanese people must change flights at a third place -- usually Hong Kong or Macau -- to enter China and to return home.

There are some 500,000 Tai-wanese businessmen in China.

China Airlines Co (華航), the nation's largest carrier, said it is still waiting for a response from the government over the plan and will decide on the company's next moves accordingly, said company spokesman Roger Han (韓梁中).

Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維), a spokesman for EVA Airways Corp (長榮), said that EVA considers Pu's remarks as a gesture of goodwill.