Beijing okays CAL and EVA overflights

Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) confirmed yesterday that China has agreed to allow China Airlines (CAL) to fly over its territory during the US-led war in Iraq.

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 (張銘清) said.

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.