China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday said that it would cancel its flights between Taiwan and Palau on Saturday, despite the Taiwan-Palau “travel bubble” arrangement, as only two people had booked seats.
“For the flight that is slated to fly from Taiwan to Palau on the afternoon of April 17, only two people purchased tickets, while no seats were sold for the flight that would return from Palau later on the same day,” CAL said in a statement.
Although the airline aims to support the travel bubble program, it cannot provide the service when so few passengers are on a flight, as it would not be economical, a CAL official told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Photo: CNA
Under the travel bubble arrangement, people must join tour groups offered by local travel agencies, but there was little chance of the agencies continuing to offer the tour departing on Saturday, the official said.
As only two passengers booked seats on the plane flying from Taiwan to Palau today, CAL canceled the bookings and would fly with no passengers, it said, adding that the move would reduce costs by allowing it to streamline the crew and the meals offered.
The flight from Palau to Taiwan today would fly as scheduled, because there would be 47 passengers aboard, it said.
CAL is the nation’s only carrier to provide regular service under the Taiwan-Palau travel bubble, with two flights on Wednesdays and two on Saturdays, but the flights depend on ticket sales, the airline added.
Under the travel bubble, the airline has so far flown eight flights with a total of 332 passengers, or an average passenger load factor of 26 percent, it said.
Although 26 percent is higher than the 15.95 percent that it saw in overall passenger operations in the first two months of the year, offering such flights is not economical, it said.
“Without the demand to transport cargo to Palau, CAL could not make up for the low passenger revenue with its cargo business,” the official said.
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