Eight Chinese travelers yesterday transited through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on their way to a third country, following Beijing’s recent announcement that residents of Chongqing, Kunming and Nanchang could transit through Taiwan.
Friends Chen Yan (陳燕) and Pan Chunming (潘春明) became the first to transit, arriving at 10:20am from Nanchang on a China Eastern Airlines-China Airlines codeshare flight on their way to Bangkok in the afternoon on a China Airlines flight.
Chen and Pan attended a news conference hosted by China Airlines in the airport’s restricted zone that was also attended by officials from the Mainland Affairs Council, Straits Exchange Foundation and Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) .
TIAC authorities said Chen and Pan completed transit inspection formalities in two minutes and spent the rest of their time at the airport at the duty-free shops, where they purchased a thermo cup and two bottles of Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor as gifts for family members.
Chen has visited Taiwan before and she told reporters that boarding transit flights in Taiwan is easy and convenient, and the three-hour wait between flights was enough time to buy souvenirs.
She said many Chinese travelers would like to transit through Taiwan so they could visit Taiwan and another country on the same trip, but it would be better if Chinese were offered 48 or 72-hour visa-free transit so they could see some tourist attractions.
Three more Chinese arrived at 3:45pm from Chongqing on an Air China-Uni Air codeshare flight and were also bound for Bangkok on a China Airlines flight.
China Airlines said the trio were members of a family surnamed Lu (盧).
The father told the airline that his child was going to study in the US and he wanted to see if it was faster to transit in Taiwan for future reference. The airline said Lu was impressed by the airport’s facilities and Chinese-speaking environment.
It said the final three Chinese travelers to transit Taiwan were from Kunming and arrived on a 6:10pm Sichuan Airlines flight and were bound for Los Angeles.
TIAC senior vice president Wen Yung-sung (溫永松) said the airport is at the center of the Asia-Pacific region and offers flights to 120 airports around the world, with plenty of shopping and leisure facilities to entertain transit passengers.
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