More than 2,000 travelers were stranded at Penghu’s Magong Airport yesterday morning as the cancelation of shipping services on Monday forced many to seek air transport to Taiwan proper.
All shipping services were canceled on Monday — the last day of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday— due to inclement weather at sea caused by the combined influence of a tropical depression and its circumference.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said it had coordinated with airlines to offer five additional flights on Monday, which carried 477 passengers back to Taiwan.
The ministry said it also worked with the Ministry of National Defense to deploy military aircraft to carry 280 passengers.
As shipping services in Penghu were again canceled yesterday, travelers who failed to board the flights on Monday returned to Magong Airport yesterday morning.
One of the travelers was quoted by the Chinese-language Apple Daily as saying he arrived at the airport at 4:30am to join the waiting list.
Another traveler, surnamed Pan (潘), said that he had arrived at the airport at 5:30am and managed to make it into the first batch of passengers on the waiting list.
The MOTC said it had asked airlines to offer eight additional flights from Penghu to Taiwan proper yesterday: three to Taipei, three to Taichung and two to Kaohsiung.
The shipping services in Penghu are scheduled to reopen today, the MOTC said, adding that the Port and Marine Bureau is coordinating with shipping operators to increase the number of ferry services between Penghu and Chiayi, and to offer one additional service to Kaohsiung.
Travelers in Lienchiang County also had trouble returning to Taiwan on Monday because their flights had been canceled due to inclement weather.
The MOTC said it had asked shipping operators to offer services between Matsu and Keelung and Matsu and Kaohsiung. It had also asked Uni Air to offer one additional flight from Matsu’s Nangan Airport to Taipei.
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