To mitigate the impact of the introduction of the high speed rail system, the nation's four domestic carriers yesterday announced a joint operation program on the Taipei-Kaohsiung route.
Customers booking tickets for this route from one of the four airlines will be able to fly, at no additional cost, on any of the carriers.
The measure, which takes effect today, was made possible after the Fair Trade Commission late last month approved the application filed by Mandarin Airlines (
The joint operation will be effective for a period of two years and will end on April 30, 2009, the commission said.
"Since the bullet train system was launched [in January], our average seat occupancy has dropped from 75 percent to 50 percent, and this is in spite of the reduced number of flights," Mandarin Airlines president Harris Wang (
Mandarin Airlines suffered revenue losses of over NT$100 million (US$3 million) on the Taipei-Kaohsiung route during the January to April period, he said.
With the new service, passengers can board any flight available, regardless of the airline, with their tickets, thus cutting waiting time from between 100 minutes to 140 minutes to as little as 36 minutes, officials said.
The total number of daily flights on this route would increase to 24, compared with the three to eight flights offered by each carrier.
Uni Airways president Derek Chen (
Flights for the Taipei-Kaohsiung corridor offered by the four carriers sometimes depart at five-minute intervals during peak hours, which Chen said represented a big waste.
Under the new arrangement, schedules would be rationalized so that during rush hour, flights would take off at 15 minute to 20 minute intervals, while off peak hours flights would depart at 40 minute to 60 minute intervals, Chen said.
Mandarin Airlines' Wang said that depending on market conditions, the four companies could also offer discount prices.
He was optimistic the new ticketing measure would lure back 10 percent to 15 percent of passengers.
The Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC, 台灣高鐵), builder of the high speed rail system, yesterday said that despite the Commission's approval, the alliance was tantamount to rigging the system.
"I think it's controversial. But for the moment the THSRC will not take any action to oppose this measure," THSRC spokesman Arthur Chiang (
He said the airlines' ticketing program was very likely to lure some passengers away from the THSRC, whose occupancy rate is over 50 percent.
The THSRC is expected to boost the frequency of departures in each direction from 25 to 31 starting on June 1, he said.
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