US carrier Delta Air Lines Inc yesterday said it would terminate all services to Taiwan effective May 25.
Delta currently operates one round-trip flight per day between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Narita Airport in Tokyo, catering mostly to passengers traveling to and from the US via Japan.
The flight between Taoyuan and Narita on May 24 will be the last one on that route, the carrier said.
Delta said it plans to shift more flights to Tokyo Haneda Airport, but did not explain why that would mean closing the Taiwan route, which it has operated since 2010.
The US-based Star Tribune said in a report in August last year that Delta was ending some of its Narita routes as a result of changes to aviation rules.
The newspaper said the decision signaled a shift in Delta’s Asia model away from megahubs and toward direct flights.
The airline was seeking to rework its Asia network map to make it competitive with other large US carriers that were vying for dominance in the region, the Tribune said.
Delta has fewer connecting routes to other Asian destinations via Haneda, because it lacks partners with fortress hubs there, the report added.
“Without a significant network restructuring, Delta’s position in the region would be significantly weakened,” Delta senior vice president of Asia Pacific Vinay Dube said.
Delta shares dropped 1.1 percent on Thursday in New York trading after the company reported a 37 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit.
The airline’s net income fell to US$622 million due to a small drop in revenue and the costs of new pilot labor contracts.
The previous year, Delta earned US$980 million.
Delta said passengers in Taiwan affected by its latest decision would be transferred to members of the SkyTeam Airline Alliance, which includes China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) and Korean Air Lines Co.
Local travel agencies said the impact of Delta’s withdrawal from Taiwan was likely to be limited.
Lion Travel Service Co (雄獅旅行社) and Star Travel Corp (燦星旅遊) said the number of travelers affected might be less than 1 percent of their total customers since there are plenty of flight options between Taoyuan and Narita, including flights on budget airlines.
Passengers who wish to take direct flights from Taiwan to the US can also choose China Airlines, EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) or United Airlines, the travel agencies said.
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) said it has come up with a new pathway to shorten its gap with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), potentially achieving a breakthrough in making advanced semiconductors without cutting-edge equipment. Right now there is about a five-year gap between what TSMC is capable of and what Huawei, together with its manufacturing partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), can produce. Huawei is to start making 1.4-nanometer chips by 2031 with its own “LogicFolding” technology, Huawei semiconductor chief He Tingbo (何庭波) said in a rare public appearance during a chip conference yesterday, while TSMC has
RSS