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Air pact revision talks with Macau stay on hold

Review and negotiations on an aviation pact with Macau were postponed once again last month, marking the third postponement since last year, officials said yesterday.

Confirming the postponement, officials from the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and the private Taipei Air Transport Business Association (TATBA) said that it was up to the Mainland Affairs Council to determine whether and when a meeting of air carriers' representatives would be held to have the pact renewed.

Cross-strait affairs

Talks on flight rights with foreign countries are usually handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but flight rights talks with Hong Kong and Macau have been handled by the council as such talks involve cross-strait affairs.

The Taiwan-Macau aviation pact was first signed by the TATBA and Air Macau -- the territory's only airline -- on Nov. 30, 1995, with the pact being in effect for five years and subject to further alterations to adapt to the needs of both sides.

Council officials took part in the 2000 negotiations in their capacity as TATBA consultants.

The new round of pact renewal talks were originally scheduled to be held in November last year but were postponed to May 30.

However, as May 30 approached, the negotiators from the two sides decided that the meeting should be postponed again.

CAA Director-General Chang Kuo-cheng (張國政) confirmed that he had recently been instructed by the council to inform the Executive Yuan that the review had been postponed for a third time.

Consensus

TATBA chairman Fan Chih-chiang (范志強) traveled to Macau recently and reached a consensus with Air Macau officials on the postponement, according to the TATBA authorities.

Under the existing pact, passenger capacity on the Taipei-Macau route was increased by 8,000 per week.

Half of the additional passenger capacity was allotted to Air Macau, and the other half was divided between EVA Airways and TransAsia Airways.

Neither Chang nor Fan would confirm whether the government plans to ask for an increase in cargo volume for Taiwanese carriers and the opening of a Taichung-Macau route when the pact is revised.
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