The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) yesterday said that Taiwanese airlines would be able to add additional flights to Shanghai to meet rising demand because of the presidential election and the Lunar New Year holiday, despite the fact the increased number would exceed the quota agreed in cross-strait negotiations.
The agency said the additional flights would be offered between Jan. 9 and Feb. 6 to facilitate the transportation of passengers during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Taiwanese carriers had applied to offer 87 additional cross-strait flights. China will provide 151 additional flights during the same period.
China has capped the number of flights to or from six popular airports, including Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
Based on the cross-strait agreement, each side is only allowed to dispatch 50 additional flights departing from or heading to Shanghai.
However, the agency said that flights from Shanghai between Jan. 6 and Jan. 13 were all full because many Taiwanese businesspeople wanted to return and vote in the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 14.
Taiwanese carriers, including China Airlines (CAL), EVA Airways and TransAsia Airways, have used up their quota for Shanghai to meet the demand.
The agency said EVA had applied to have four more flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Shanghai, as well as two between Kaohsiung International Airport and Shanghai.
Both CAL and TransAsia are planning to have seven additional flights operating between Taoyuan and Shanghai and two additional flights between Taichung and Shanghai.
The carriers need permission from both Taipei and Beijing to offer these additional flights.
The agency said the quota for Shanghai could be readjusted if there was an increase in demand.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai