Thanks to a brisk Chinese economy and anticipated direct charter flights across the Taiwan Strait, growth in Taiwan's executive air travel market is very much in sight, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials forecast yesterday.
The officials predicted promising prospects for Taiwan's executive air travel market in view of the fast expansion in for Hong Kong and Macau business travel to and from China.
The CAA conducted an opinion survey of top 500 local enterprises last year to explore the commercial aviation market potential. A total of 88 valid replies were collected.
Citing the results of the survey, the officials said that two of them expressed full willingness to use special executive jets for their business travel as long as the government gives a green light, while 49 companies said that they would "conditionally" consider the possibility.
Costs were the main consideration when 43 of the 49 companies willing to use special executive jets weighed the issue, the officials said. Twenty six enterprises said that they would think about the issue only when direct cross-strait air travel has been put in place, while 25 said that they would do so when regular commercial flights are not effective enough to cope with demand.
For international routes, Taipei Songshan Airport was most often cited by respondents as the best hub for executive jets, followed by Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport.
The CAA hopes to permit Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport to serve special executive jets and private planes plying international routes in its planned first-phase opening.
In the second phase, Songshan Airport and other airports in Hualien, Taichung, Kinmen and Makung that operate international charters will be authorized to serve special executive and private planes on international routes, as well as all other civilian airports, the officials added.
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