Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (
China Airlines filed an overflight application with Beijing's Civil Aviation Administration of China last Friday after the Ministry of Transportation and Communications gave the two airlines the green light to do so out of safety considerations.
CAL's Europe-bound flights usually fly via the Middle East. After the flights are re-routed via China to bypass areas near the war zones, they will have to pass through Kazakhstan, Russia and several European countries not on the usual routes.
A CAL spokesman said the airline's applications for permission to fly over these countries are still being processed.
"So it remains uncertain when our Europe-bound flights will begin to fly over China," he said.
EVA Airways said it has also applied for permission to fly via China airspace during the war in Iraq.
"We expect to receive approval from the mainland authorities by Friday," a spokesman for the airline said.
Both CAL and EVA have re-routed some of their Europe-bound passenger and cargo flights to bypass areas neighboring the war zones.
New routes via China will enable the two carriers to cut their flight times by more than one hour, airline sources said.
Meanwhile, a Chinese government spokesman said yesterday foreign-owned airlines won't be allowed to fly non-stop between China and Taiwan.
Only Chinese and Taiwanese carriers will operate non-stop flights between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Zhang Mingqing (
Airlines that have more than 49 percent foreign ownership won't be permitted to apply for the route, he said, adding that the rule also applies to shipping companies.
"China won't allow foreign airlines or shippers to take part in direct links," Zhang told reporters in Beijing.
The rule may exclude Cathay Pacific Airway, Hong Kong's largest airline, from applying to fly the route. The airline is 25.8 percent owned by CITIC Pacific, a subsidiary of the investment arm of China's government, with Swire Pacific and foreign fund managers controlling most of the company's shares.
Hong Kong Dragon Airlines counts China National Aviation Co and CITIC Pacific as its largest shareholders. The two companies, majority-owned by the Chinese government, own a combined 73 percent share, according to Dragonair's Web site.
Cathay Pacific and Dragonair both fly between Taiwan and Hong Kong. Dragonair also flies to China.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it