Airline representatives and Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss rules and principles governing allocation of regular cross-strait flights.
Whether cash-strapped Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) would be able to take part in the flights is also a focus of public attention.
Following the third round of cross-strait negotiations in Nanjing last week, Taiwan and China agreed to a total of 270 regular cross-strait flights per week.
As such, the nation’s five airlines must share 135 flights departing from Taiwan each week. China now has six new cities on its list of destinations: Hefei in Anhui Province; Harbin in Heilongjiang; Nanchang in Jiangxi; Guiyang in Guizhou; Ningbo in Zhejiang; and Jinan in Shandong.
Taiwan has capped the number of flights to Taipei’s Songshan Airport to 21 per week, while China has restricted the number of weekly flights to Shanghai to 28 per week. China also limited the number of weekly flights to Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Kunming and Chengdu.
CAA director general Lee Lung-wen (李龍文) said yesterday that although the CAA had suspended FAT from operating international flights, FAT still has an airline company license and is entitled to participate in the discussions.
“We will still invite the company to voice its opinions on the flight distribution, but do not guarantee that it will be granted the right to share these flights,” Lee said
The company still owes the CAA aircraft landing and departure fees, for which the company has already been given one payment extension.
The deadline for FAT to pay the fees is May 16.
“There is not much leeway in the law to give the company a second extension,” Lee said.
The Taipei District Court yesterday also approved FAT’s application to restructure its finances, provided the company does not use the approval as an excuse to ask for another extension.
Lee outlined the factors that would affect cross-strait flight allocation, including the carrier’s fleet of aircraft and its operational plan.
Lee added that the CAA would also use a strategy of “tying the fat meat with the lean” (肥肉綁瘦肉) as an incentive, in which an airline company would be granted one profitable route if it is willing to take another less profitable route.
Those that fit into the “less profitable” category are all domestic routes, including those to Hualien, Taitung, Hengchun and Pingtung.
Although ticket prices are determined by market supply and demand, Lee said the CAA has “administrative measures” that can regulate cross-strait ticket prices.
Many passengers traveling between Taiwan and China have complained that the prices for cross-strait flights are too expensive and have asked carriers to reduce prices.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
Chinese embassy staffers attempted to interrupt an award ceremony of an international tea competition in France when the organizer introduced Taiwan and displayed the Republic of China flag, a Taiwanese tea farmer said in an interview published today. Hsieh Chung-lin (謝忠霖), chief executive of Juxin Tea Factory from Taichung's Lishan (梨山) area, on Dec. 2 attended the Teas of the World International Contest held at the Peruvian embassy in Paris. Hsieh was awarded a special prize for his Huagang Snow Source Tea by the nonprofit Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). During the ceremony, two Chinese embassy staffers in attendance
RSS