More than 600 approved for today's charter flights

More than 600 Taiwan businessmen and their dependents have been verified as eligible by the Taiwan Businessmen's Association in Beijing to take today's charter flights home for the Lunar New Year holiday, a spokesman for the association said yesterday.

The spokesman told reporters that a total of 673 Taiwan businessmen and their dependents in Beijing have been approved by the association to board the direct charter flights on the first day of the service, arranged by Taiwan and China during the holiday period.

Taiwan-based China Airlines (華航) and EVA Airways (長榮航空) will carry 193 and 185 of them, while China-based Air China (中國航空) and Hainan Airlines (海南航空) will carry 141 and 154 passengers today, he said.

According to aviation companies, the ground-breaking Taipei-Beijing flight agreement means a lot to them because of the two cities' special status, despite the fact that Beijing is not home to the largest number of Taiwan businessmen operating in China.

It would be the very first step toward the opening of full air links between Taiwan and China, they claimed, adding that celebrations will be held Jan. 29 at both the Taiwan and Beijing airports to mark the maiden flights. A total of nine flights will be provided on the first day of the service.

Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), however, hinted yesterday at the possibility of disturbances during today's launch of the charter flights.

He said that while the flights were limited to verified Taiwanese businesspeople living in China, Taiwanese students studying in China may attempt to board the flights.

He said that it was possible that these students had worked with Taiwanese businessmen associations in China to secure tickets.

The associations have been given the task of verifying passengers' identity.