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Foreign airlines may be out of cross-strait plan

Foreign airlines could face exclusion from potential future direct routes between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. This would chiefly be the result of a drive to protect the profitability of local carriers as proposed in a new five-year plan for the aviation industry which is currently being drafted by the government.

According to a report in local media, the government is considering excluding foreign airlines from the routes as China considers such links domestic and Taiwan is likely to ambiguously classify them as "special."

Under the plan drafted by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the smaller Sungshan Airport in Taipei and Hualien Airport would be included alongside Chiang Kai Shek and Hsiaokang Airport in Kaohsiung as servicing points on the routes to China.

The CAA draft plan reportedly clearly states the government's intention to deny foreign airlines the "fifth freedom right" -- the right to connect flights to Taipei onwards to China.

According to an official at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which oversees the CAA, "if we allowed too many foreign airlines to fly certain domestic routes then it will affect the profits of all airlines and negatively impact their sustainability."

However, the official stressed that the report, which is scheduled for release at the end of June, is still being reviewed by the Mainland Affairs Council -- which will ultimately have the final say in how air links with China will be established.

"It still hasn't been determined whether the links will be classified as domestic or international and how the final decision would ultimately impact Taiwan's international sovereignty," the official said.

These issues would have to be resolved in negotiations with China, the official said.

An executive from Thai Airways in Taiwan said that, while the company hadn't made any plans yet for expansion into China via Taiwan, air right treaties are subject to bilateral negotiations that result in reciprocal agreements.

Taiwanese airlines enjoyed "fifth freedom rights" via Bangkok, which is a major regional hub linking Asia with South Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
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