Air links between Seoul and Taipei may be reopened

Taiwan hopes to resume aviation talks aimed at opening suspended air routes between Taipei and Seoul, a Taiwanese envoy in Seoul told Korean media yesterday.

"If we can reach an understanding with Korea within a few days or a few weeks we can proceed to the negotiation table to settle the issue," Lin Tsun-hsien (林 賢) was quoted as saying in Seoul. Taiwan's government has more room to negotiate now since the atmosphere has changed, he said.

South Korea has tried to reopen air routes with Taiwan, but bilateral talks have stalled over demands by Taiwan that Seoul dispatch a high-profile delegation to Taipei.

Air links between Taiwan and South Korea, close allies during the Cold War, were suspended shortly after South Korea switched diplomatic links from Taiwan to China in 1992.

Hoping to benefit from the resumption of air links, six local carriers, including China Airlines (CAL,中華航空公司 ) and EVA Airways (長榮航空), both of which operated flight and cargo services to Seoul before the suspension, have expressed interest in operating flight services to Seoul and two other South Korean cities.

But only two local carriers will ultimately be allowed to provide the bilateral air services.

Scott Shih (石炳煌), spokesman for CAL, which has not suspended its sales promotion in South Korea, said the company was ready to resume links.

"It will be a nice start for us if air links with South Korea are resumed," Shih said. "Because we have maintained a representative office in Seoul to prevent our complete disappearance in the South Korean market, we are ready for the resumption [of air links] any time."

Shih said CAL provided direct flight services from Taipei to Seoul between 1967 and 1992, with 14 flights provided every week. CAL officials said they hope to maintain the original flight capacity along the Seoul route, with four more flights to be added in the second year after the resumption of air links.

According to Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維), EVA Airline's deputy senior vice president at the PR and Administrative Division, EVA provided air services from Taipei to Seoul briefly in 1991, and all of its flight services have been suspended since then.

Since the suspension, flight services from Taipei to Seoul have been provided by Cathay Pacific Airways and Thai Airways International, with both airlines offering 16 flights per week.

"The market for this route has shrunk substantially. Seoul used to be a popular tourist destination for Taiwanese tourists before the suspension [in air links by domestic carriers]," Nieh said. According to Nieh, the market on the route fell by at least 60 percent. There were at least 40 flights provided weekly for the route before the suspension. Other carriers interested in South Korean routes include Far East Air Transport Corp (遠東航空), TransAsia Airways (復興航空), UNI Airlines (立榮航空) and Mandarin Airlines (華信航空).