The Pingtung County Government on Wednesday signed an agreement with three domestic airlines that service the new Hengchun Wuliting Airport near Kenting, providing a short-term boost after the airlines said they intended to reduce flights because of lower-than-expected demand.
The government had earlier hailed the opening of the airport in time for the Lunar New Year, saying the new facility would help meet extra tourism demand.
To boost unsatisfactorily low bookings for the new direct flight to Kenting, the county government signed a contract, valid from yesterday to March 5, with online travel agency Eztravel.com (易遊網) and the three airlines to maintain nine flights to Kenting per week.
UNI Airways (
"Bookings are low because people are unfamiliar with this new route and concerned about flight safety in view of Hengchun's well-known winds," Chen Chun-chi (陳俊綺), head of the county's tourism division, told the Taipei Times yesterday.
"It is also low season, which will last to the end of March, so we want to promote tourism in Hengchun as well as this particular service by working together with the travel agency and the airlines," Chen said.
The county government hopes cooperation with the private sector can boost bookings from about 40 percent to 80 percent, according to Chen.
Eztravel.com also signed contracts with the three carriers, valid from this month to October, which have bought out 90 percent of seats for the period, valued at NT$30 million.
"The investment certainly amounts to a lot of pressure on us," said Todd Hsiao (蕭冠群), Eztravel's senior manager.
"But viewing the up-to-6 million visitors Kenting can attract annually, we formulated eight travel packages for our customers and hope to generate sales of over NT$100 million at least," he said.
To reach Kenting, tourists must either fly or take to a train to Kaohsiung or Pingtung and then transfer to a bus.
Direct flights to Kenting can save travelers up to three hours and NT$500 in travel costs per person.
The new airport started operation last month, targeting tourists wanting to holiday in Kenting. The airport, however, was criticized for being open prematurely, out of concern that safety was being compromised.
Hengchun travel agencies said low bookings were predictable because the airport's opening was rushed.
But carriers remained positive about the future of the route.
"We are upbeat about the prospects of this service," said Michael Lo (
"We believe that the earnings to be made during the upcoming high season, starting in April and ending September, can make up for the losses in the low season," he said.
TransAsia Airways agreed, adding that Kenting enjoyed abundant resources that were highly attractive to visitors.
"People should not worry about flight safety. We will halt flights if the wind is stronger than 25 nautical miles (46kph), which is stricter than the standard of 35 nautical miles," said TransAsia public relations manager Janet So (湛華生).
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