The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) yesterday said it had decided to put on hold a meeting to discuss amendments to an aviation pact between Taiwan and the Philippines following the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by personnel aboard a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on Thursday last week.
Based on the pact, each side can assign two airlines to operate regular flights between Taipei and Manila. Taiwan has designated China Airlines and EVA Airways as the exclusive operators of the flights from Taipei, while the Philippines has appointed Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Air to operate the flights from Manila.
An amendment to the pact was proposed when a third carrier in the Philippines sought to join the Taipei-Manila route. Aviation officials from both sides met in Taipei last year. Although they did not reach a consensus, they agreed to meet again.
According to the CAA, the Philippines bought up the matter again at the beginning of the year, but both sides had not set a date for a second meeting.
Following the fatal shooting last week, the CAA decided to set aside the proposal for a new aviation pact.
However, suspending flight services between the two countries may be a more difficult decision to make.
Statistics from the CAA showed that Taiwanese carriers offer more flights than their Philippine counterparts. China Airlines offers a total of 18 passenger flights per week between Taipei and Manila, and between Greater Kaohsiung and Manila. It also provides two cargo flights per week as well as charter flight services.
EVA offers seven flights per week between Taipei and Manila.
Taiwan’s Mandarin Airlines also has two flights per week between Taipei and Boracay, Philippines.
Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific together offer 21 passenger flights per week to Taipei. Spirit of Manila Airlines also operates four passenger flights per week between Taipei and Boracay.
Other airlines in the Philippines can also share the use of 3,100 seats available for charter flights.
The CAA said it is gathering data on flight services between the two countries for review and decisionmaking by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Executive Yuan.
Other repercussions caused by the shooting began to emerge yesterday.
Tsen’s Mochi (曾記麻糬), a well-known food shop in Hualien City, canceled a trip to Boracay for its employees to protest the incident.
Chairman Dong Chuen-ling said the company would not consider a trip to the Philippines until Manila makes a formal apology and responds to the Taiwanese government’s demands.
Dong added that the company would donate 10 percent of its revenue from the sale of Mid-Autumn Festival moon cakes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Overseas Emergency Rescue Fund.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS