Taiwan is to begin operating direct flights to Madrid and Barcelona as the nation has completed negotiations on an aviation pact with Spain, a source within the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said on Tuesday.
Details of the agreement were announced in a report published by the Chinese-language Economic Daily News on Sunday.
When asked to comment on the report, an official involved in the negotiations refused to give further details, but said negotiations had been ongoing for a while.
When asked if any particular airline has pushed for the routes, the official said that “they simply follow their plan.”
The ministry source told the Taipei Times that Taipei and Madrid have also signed a confidentiality agreement on the matter.
According to the Economic Daily News report, the breakthrough came about because of a gradual increase in cross-strait flights in recent years, which proved to the Spanish government that there would not be any political issues if it signs an aviation agreement with Taiwan.
The report said that Taiwan is to operate 14 direct flights to Madrid and Barcelona per week.
Unlike flight routes to London, Rome or Paris, which are operated by only one Taiwanese carrier, both China Airlines (CAL) and EVA Airways can apply to operate flights to either one of the Spanish cities, the report said.
CAL operates direct flights to Amsterdam, Rome, Frankfurt and Vienna.
EVA operates direct flights to London, Amsterdam and Vienna. Passengers heading to either one of the Spanish cities have to take flights operated by European or other Asian carriers and transfer in Hong Kong or Singapore.
CAL earlier this week said that the airline would begin building a market by first offering co-share flights with Air Europa, the third-largest airline in Spain.
Passengers departing from Taiwan would board flights offered by CAL to Amsterdam or Frankfurt and transfer to the co-share flights offered by Air Europa to Barcelona or Madrid, the airline said.
EVA said it would have to do further research on the market and evaluate the possibility of launching direct services.
Industry experts also see the new services as a way to improve competitiveness of the two Taiwanese airlines, particularly when they are facing strong competition from other Asian carriers offering flights from Taiwan to Europe.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
RSS