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Taoyuan charter flights top list of cross-strait routes

The Taoyuan-Shanghai route was the most popular weekend cross-strait charter flight service last month, while traffic on other routes fell drastically over the weeks, statistics released by the Civil Aeronautics Administration showed.

The Taoyuan and Shanghai route had an average occupancy rate of 93 percent last month, followed by the Taipei-Shanghai route, on which the average occupancy rate topped 87 percent, the CAA said.

The number of passengers using the cross-strait charter flights showed a steady increase, rising from 12,056 passengers on the first weekend of last month — when it was initiated — to 16,044 passengers on the fourth weekend of last month, CAA statistics showed.

Flights to Hong Kong and Macau, however, saw a gradual decline in passenger numbers last month, sliding from 135,474 on the first weekend to 124,926 by the fourth weekend.

Despite the drop, the CAA said 94 percent of Chinese tourists still came via Hong Kong and Macau; 5 percent arrived via charter flights; and the remainder came via a third country, such as South Korea.

The CAA further cited statistics from the Tourism Bureau, which showed that about 5,300 Chinese tourists visited Taiwan last month using cross-strait charter flights.

Taiwan and China have agreed that each side will dispatch 18 round-trip charter flights during weekends. Although there were charter flight services to and from Taoyuan, Songshan in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hualien on the first weekend of last month, the majority of charter flights on the following weekends landed only in Taoyuan and Songshan. Only one round-trip flight landed in Kaohsiung.

The top three Chinese airports for cross-strait flights are Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, CAA Director-General Lee Long-wen (李龍文) said.

While more airlines wanted most of their flights to land in Songshan, the airport has strict limitations, he said.

Specifically, he said that the buffer wall separating the runways and the fuel depot of the Ministry of National Defense would have to be torn down if it wants to accommodate bigger jets.

Otherwise, the jets’ wings will hit the wall when they make turns on the runway, he said.

“The military says there will be safety concerns if the wall is removed,” he said, adding that the CAA will continue to negotiate with the ministry over the issue.

In related news, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said yesterday that a month after the government relaxed restrictions on Chinese visits, the average number of tourists arriving each day was just 193.

The figure represents little more than 6 percent of the estimated 3,000 daily tourists that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) promised, he said.

Kao said that not only had the nation not profited from Chinese visits, the number of Japanese tourists visiting had also dropped.

Ma predicted that Chinese tourism would generate annual profits of NT$60 billion (US$19.5 billion), but at the current average, daily profits would only amount to NT$9,862, Gao said.

Also yesterday, the nation’s two largest airlines said they would raise fuel surcharges for flights between Taipei and Hong Kong.

EVA Air (長榮航空) is planning to raise the one-way fuel charge from US$22 to US$30, whereas China Airlines (中華航空) will increase the charge from US$21.90 to US$29.60.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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