The Civil Aeronautics Administra-tion (CAA) said yesterday three of the four domestic airlines will cut routes in an attempt to reduce costs.
Chen Tien-tsyh (
"As of March 1 this year, Far Eastern Air Transport will suspend all flights between Kaohsiung and Kinmen and all flights between Kaohsiung and Makung," Chen said.
From the same date, UNI Airways will suspend its route between Taipei and Tainan. TransAsia Airways will slash its daily flights between Taipei and Kaohsiung from 13 to 8.
Mandarin Airlines is the only airline that will not cut any of its routes or flights, something Chen put down to its already limited operations.
Chen said all four airlines suffered huge losses last year but did not reveal any figures.
The economic downturn over the past few years, coupled with competition from private bus companies that offer cheaper long-haul journeys across the island, has hurt the airlines, Chen said.
The CAA says that since a major part of the nation's freeway network has been completed, many people taking short-haul trips prefer to drive rather than use air transport.
"Only 55.1 percent of the four airlines' capacity was filled last year," Chen said, adding that demand for domestic flights has been dropping off for years.
The completion of National Freeway No. 3, which links Taipei and Pingtung, and the High Speed Railway will further reduce demand, Chen said.
UNI Airways said it would honor those who have already tickets on its flights between Taipei and Tainan.
"We can exchange our own tickets for those offered by other airlines," said Cherry Chen (陳麗萍), director of the airline's public relations department.
"We can also fully refund the tickets," she said.
People who have accumulated mileage through traveling between Taipei and Tainan can use the mileage to travel to others places, she said.
Tourism visas issued by the Tainan City Government offer coupons to purchase UNI Airways' tickets and Cherry Chen said the airline has not decided how to dispose of the coupons.
In 1997, 65.5 percent of Taiwan's airline capacity was filled. That number dropped to 60.39 in 1999 and to 55.07 in 2000.
The route between Taipei and Kaohsiung is the nation's busiest. In 1997 these flights were 70.67 percent full on average. However, by 2001, that percentage had slipped to 56.97, according to the CAA.
To lighten the impact of the cutback plan on tourists, the CAA has asked airlines to restructure their flight timetables. "The gaps between flights should not be too long so as not to keep tourists waiting," Chen Tien-tsyh said.
To help form the cutback plan, the CAA invited the Consumer Protection Commission, Fair Trade Commission, Institute of Transport and Consumers Foundation for a joint discussion, Chen said.
The airlines have published the restructuring plan on their Web sites and will post notifications at their airport counters, according to the CAA.
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