Passengers are soon to be allowed to carry tripods and selfie sticks onto aircraft in their hand luggage, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday, adding that the length of those items must not exceed 60cm.
Air Transport Division director Han Chen-hua (韓振華) said that under current regulations, passengers can carry tripods in carry-on luggage if the items can be folded to a length not exceeding 25cm.
The rule was established over fears that long tripods could be used to bludgeon people.
Due to the popularity of selfie sticks, more passengers want to carry them onto aircraft, Han said, adding that the government consulted Japanese regulations before deciding to change the rules.
Taiwan and Japan are the only nations in the world that ban travelers from carrying long tripods onto aircraft, he said.
The rules were changed to strike a balance between the needs of passengers, aviation safety and maintaining order in the flight cabin, he said, adding that the rule change should take effect this month.
In related news, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport ranked No. 1 in terms of service quality last year among international airports servicing 25 million to 40 million passengers per year in the Airports Council International latest report.
Taoyuan airport was followed by China’s Shengzhen Baoan International Airport and Hangzhou International Airport, which were rated No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said.
Statistics from the airport company showed that the Taoyuan airport serviced 42.29 million people last year, representing year-on-year growth of 9.94 percent.
The airport is aiming to improve service quality further by expanding the service area of Terminal 2 and building Terminal 3.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a