The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) yesterday said it would propose the addition of 86 cross-strait flights for the Lunar New Year period next year during its negotiations with Chinese aviation officials in Greater Kaohsiung today.
The Central Personnel Administration had announced earlier that the holiday would last from Jan. 20 through Jan. 29.
As some people may choose to leave for Taiwan earlier or return to China later, the agency plans to allow more flights from Jan. 9 through Feb. 5.
Many China-based Taiwanese businesspeople may also choose to return home ahead of the holidays to vote in the presidential and legislative elections, which will be held on Jan. 14.
The agency said the number of additional flights was proposed by the nation’s major airlines, including 37 flights departing from Shanghai Pudong Airport, 19 from Shenzhen, 13 from Guangzhou as well as from Beijing, Hangzhou, Ningbo and six other Chinese cities.
However, the agency said the number of additional flights requested would be lower than in previous years because there already are 558 regular cross-strait flights per week.
The agency said Taiwanese negotiators would be led by Civil Aeronautics Administration Deputy Director-General Lee Wan-li (李萬里).
Liu Wanming (劉萬明), deputy director of the agency’s air transport department, will represent China at the negotiations, the agency said.
Liu and the rest of the Chinese delegation arrived in Greater Kaohsiung late yesterday.
Today’s meeting will mark the sixth round of cross-strait negotiations on air travel in the past two years.
Negotiations have been held twice in Xiamen, China and once each in Chengdu, China, and in Taipei and Greater Taichung.
The agency said the Chinese delegation would also visit Kenting and Greater Tainan. It said it hoped the visit to the scenic spots would encourage Chinese airlines to increase the number of flights to those areas.
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