Japan Airlines (JAL) yesterday celebrated the 60th anniversary of the launch of service between Tokyo International Airport (Haneda airport) and Taipei’s Songhan Airport, now known as Taipei International Airport.
JAL’s first flight from Haneda to Songshan was on July 30, 1959, with a Douglas DC-6B that could accommodate 50 passengers.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-chung (祁文中), Tourism Bureau Director General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) and Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association chief executive Mikio Numata and JAL managing executive officer Tetsuya Onuki attended JAL’s ceremony at Songshan to mark the anniversary.
Photo: CNA
The anniversary is an important milestone in tourism exchanges between Taiwan and Japan, Chi said in a speech.
It showed the importance of the Songshan-Haneda service to the airline, and on behalf of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), he wanted to thank JAL for its 60-year record, Chi said.
Taiwan and Japan have been partners for many years in transportation, tourism, economy and trade, Chi said.
“Although we have encountered difficulties in maintaining the operation of the route, we have managed to find solutions and gradually increase the passengers traveling on the route,” he added.
The most significant challenge came when JAL could no longer offer flights to Taiwan after Japan severed formal diplomatic ties with the nation in 1972 and established ties with China the following year, he said.
To fill the void, JAL in 1975 established Japan Asia Airways (JAA), which served customers in Japan and in Taiwan for 33 years before being merged into JAL in 2008.
JAL flight attendants at the ceremony were dressed in uniforms worn over the years by JAL and JAA cabin crews.
There are 37 routes between Taiwan and Japan, serviced by JAL and other airlines, with the number of weekly flights topping 690, and about 13.42 million passengers have traveled on these routes, Chi said.
Last year alone, 4.82 million Taiwanese tourists visited Japan, a 4.5 percent increase from 2017, while 1.96 million Japanese tourists visited Taiwan, an increase of 3.8 percent, he said.
The number of Japanese tourists visiting Taiwan this year might exceed 2 million, he said.
“Traveling in Taiwan or Japan has brought wonderful memories to peoples of different generations in both nations over the past 60 years. We hope they could continue sharing these memories with their families through the flights offered by JAL,” he said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS