Air carriers are scrambling to secure a good position on the potentially lucrative Taipei-Shanghai flight route in preparation for the opening of indirect air links across the Taiwan Strait.
Despite the two sides of the Taiwan Strait remaining locked in a political impasse, Taiwanese carriers have devised a number of new options to facilitate passenger flights linking Taipei and Shanghai now that the government has announced the opening of indirect cargo charter flights between the two cities.
China Airlines (CAL), Taiwan's largest carrier, will almost immediately start indirect ShanghaiTaipei flight services with stop-overs in Okinawa.
The CAL flights, scheduled to kick off from Chiang Kai-shek International Airport today, will connect with China's China Eastern Airline flights at Okinawa, which will take passengers to Shanghai's Pudong Airport, according to CAL authorities.
Initially, CAL will operate three Taipei-Okinawa-Shanghai flights per week, gradually increasing to a flight every day by the end of October, CAL officials said.
Far East Air Transport, meanwhile, is negotiating for permission to fly passengers from Taipei to Shanghai via South Korea's Cheju Island. If everything goes smoothly, the Taipei-Cheju-Shanghai flight service is expected to begin by the end of October, according to Far East Air.
China Eastern Airlines operates 15 flights from Hong Kong to Shanghai per day, while Dragonair offers 10 flights. Shanghai Airlines and Macau Airways, meanwhile, each operate three flights from Macau to Shanghai per day, while Philippine Airlines operates four flights to Shanghai from Manila every day.
In total, there are 35 flights from Hong Kong and Macau to Shanghai every day.
EVA Airways began a cargo transport operation last month in collaboration with Shanghai Airlines, significantly facilitating indirect cargo and goods trans-portation between Taiwan and Shanghai.
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