The air transport restrictions between Taiwan and Macau will soon be lifted after the two sides signed a new aviation agreement yesterday.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said the pact was signed in Macau by Lu Chang-shui (盧長水), director of the Mainland Affairs Council’s Macau affairs department, and Macau Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan Director Nadia Leong (梁潔芝).
The new agreement will replace the one signed in 2001 between the Taipei Airlines Association and Air Macau, the CAA said.
Currently, the number of passenger seats provided by each side is capped at 19,400 per week, while carriers on each side can deliver 400 tonnes of air cargo per week.
All the caps will be removed after the aviation pact takes effect, the CAA said.
“Carriers on both sides can decide the number of the flights they plan to dispatch depending on market demand,” it added. “The new pact does not list the names of carriers designated to operate the Taiwan-Macau flights. Each side can decide the carriers that are entitled to offer the service.”
The new agreement will also regulate charter flights between Taiwan and Macau.
Based on the new pact, carriers can apply to operate regular charter flights between Macau and the airports in Greater Taichung, Taitung, Magong, Kinmen, Greater Tainan or Chiayi. No cap will be placed on any of these flight services either.
Passenger flights to Macau are offered by EVA Air, TranAsia Airways and Mandarin Airlines in Taiwan, as well as Air Macau. The Taiwanese carriers jointly offer approximately 82 flights per week, whereas the Macanese airline offers about 35 flights per week.
No carrier currently offers cargo service.
From 2011 to last year, the average occupancy rate for Taiwan-Macau flights was 70.6 percent. Market analysts said the new pact would encourage more carriers to enter the market.
Unlike the old agreement signed between carriers, the Mainland Affairs Council said the new aviation pact was signed by government officials from both sides.
The CAA said the new aviation pact would give carriers more flexibility in arranging flights and provide consumers with more options.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a