Direct flight services between Taipei Songshan Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport were officially launched yesterday, with many passengers complaining that the tickets were too expensive.
The nation’s first flight to Hongqiao was made by China Airlines (CAL, 華航), which left at 8:45am. The Boeing-737 aircraft carried mostly officials from the Taipei City Government and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, as well as lawmakers serving on the legislature’s Transportation Committee.
Flights by TransAsia Airways (復興航空) and EVA Airways (EVA, 長榮) also took off at 1pm and 1:15pm respectively. All three flights from Taiwan had an average passenger occupancy of about 80 percent.
A flight from China Eastern Airlines (中國東方航空) was the first and the only flight departing from Hongqiao yesterday.
CAL and EVA held inauguration ceremonies at Songshan to celebrate the historic moment.
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Director-General Lee Long-wen (李龍文) thanked Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) in a speech at the ceremony, as Hau was the first to mention that both sides should aim for the launch of the Songshan-Hongqiao route by June 14.
“Both Songshan and Hongqiao are city airports and the direct flight service between these two airports also expands Songshan’s function as a business airport,” Lee said. “Commuting between Taipei and Shanghai within a day has now come true.”
Lee told reporters after the ceremony that the CAA would monitor the flight service for a month and would use the information collected as a reference for cross-straight negotiations in October.
“Now, those heading to Shanghai from Taipei can save at least two hours, one hour to [Taiwan] Taoyuan International Airport and one hour to downtown Shanghai,” Lee said.
A total of 14 round-trip flights are now offered between Songshan and Hongqiao. Thirty-six other round-trip services will be distributed among local carriers, but a detailed plan has yet to be worked out and will not be implemented until July 5.
The majority of flights to Shanghai continue to be operated from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Shanghai Pudong Airport.
Expecting an increase in demand, CAL and EVA have said they planned to rent several Airbus 330 aircraft to accommodate more passengers when construction work on runways at Songshan is completed in October.
At present, airlines can only use smaller model aircraft, such as Boeing 737s, which can carry about 150 passengers.
An Airbus 330-300 model aircraft would enable airliners to carry up to 335 passengers at a time.
Many passengers yesterday said tickets for the Songshan-Hongqiao flight were far too expensive. Some Chinese tourists also complained about the poor facilities at Songshan Airport.
Taiwanese entrepreneur Chang Hsiu-wan (張秀琬) returned to Taiwan yesterday with her family to the celebrate Dragon Boat Festival.
“A business-class ticket costs 7,000 yuan [NT$1,024], which is about the same amount you pay from Taiwan to the US,” Chang said. “Economy class costs about NT$4,500. The tickets are too expensive,” she said.
Hau left for Shanghai yesterday to mark the launch of direct flights between the two cities.
Hau, who left for “Taipei Culture Week” at the Shanghai World Expo, said the direct flight service was the first step in the “golden decade” envisioned by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
“It was my campaign promise to have direct flights between Songshan and Hongqiao airports, but this promise did not receive any positive response under the [then] Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] administration,” he said. “Now the dream has come true following the change of government.”
Hau added that direct flights between Songshan and Japan's Tokyo-Haneda Airport are scheduled to begin in October.
With South Korea's Gimpo International Airport joining the service route, Hau said the four cities — Taipei, Hongqiao, Haneda and Gimpo — would form a “one-day living circle” where air travel would be easier and travel time significantly reduced.
That would bound to attract international businesses to set up their operations in Taipei, he said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source