In light of the significant drop in domestic air travel in recent years and the expected inauguration of the high-speed railway in October, four domestic carriers have decided to gradually cut flights to reduce costs.
Starting this month, TransAsia Airways (復興航空), Uni Airways Corp (立榮航空) and Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) are providing only one flight each per week on the Taipei-Hengchun route, down from two flights each per week. Last month, flights on the Taipei-Makung route, and even the busiest Taipei-Kaohsiung route were cut.
Further flight reductions on Taipei-Taitung, Taichung-Taitung and Taipei-Taichung routes are on the way, the carriers said.
"The large-scale industry migration in recent years and economic factors are behind the downturn," said Chen Tien-shih (陳天識), director of the Civil Aeronautics Administration's Air Transport Division.
For the first two months of the year 2.79 million passengers traveled on domestic routes, a 10.9 percent decline from a year ago, according to the latest statistics released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
The number of domestic flights in January, for example, also dropped by 7.7 percent to 11,389 from the same period last year, Chen said, citing administration statistics.
"The domestic flight business will slump to its lowest level after the high-speed railway starts service, which is expected to replace 50 percent to 70 percent of air transportation, especially on the Western routes," Hanson Chang (張有朋), senior public relations manager at Far Eastern Air (遠東航空), said in a telephone interview yesterday.
One big lifeline for the industry would be direct air links with China, but until the long-awaited policy is implemented, domestic carriers have been keen to expand international flights, Chang said.
Far Eastern started flights between Taipei and Jeju, South Korea in January 2003, with the number of passengers increasing five-fold to date. The company added connecting flights to Shanghai and Beijing, and both have attracted considerable volume, Chang said.
Later this year, Far Eastern also plans to operate flights between Kaohsiung and Incheon, South Korea, as well as to Bali and Cambodia's Angkor Wat, Chang said.
International routes accounted for less than 30 percent of Far Eastern's revenue last year.
Chang said the company plans to boost that to 40 percent this year, and to more than 50 percent next year.
Domestically, the four carriers are carrying out joint operations, allowing passengers to fly with any of the four firms, no matter which airline they use to book their ticket.
The four carriers are also mulling setting up joint counters at domestic airports, with the first one already established at Taitung Airport, Chen said.
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