EVA Airways Corp, Taiwan's second-largest carrier, and two other Taiwanese airlines won approval from China to operate charter flights to China, they said yesterday.
EVA Airways, and UNI Airways Corp, both part of the Evergreen Group, and smaller carrier TransAsia Airways, said they received permission to operate the flights to Shanghai during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins at the end of this month.
Taiwan's largest carrier, China Airlines Co, Mandarin Airlines, a unit of China Airlines, and Far Eastern Air Transport Co received approval earlier. The carriers will fly a combined 16 charter flights.
EVA will operate two flights out of Taipei via Macau, one on Jan. 29 and another on Feb. 8, using a Boeing Co 747, spokeswoman Katherine Ke (柯文玲) said.
UNI Airways will operate two flights out of Kaohsiung via Macau, one on Jan. 29 and the other on Feb. 8, using a 155-seat MD-90, public relations director Cherry Chen said.
TransAsia will operate flights out of Kaohsiung via Macau, using a 197-seat Airbus SAS 321, public relations manager Janet So (
About 4 million people travel between China and Taiwan each year, mainly through Hong Kong and Macau. Direct flights would make traveling quicker for people who cross the Strait, including 800,000 Taiwan business people who have invested US$100 billion in China since 1979.
A direct flight to Shanghai from Taipei takes about 90 minutes, a quarter the time it takes to fly via Hong Kong or Macau.
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