China Airlines (CAL, 華航) is studying the feasibility of launching direct flights between Taiwan and Prague, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) yesterday told the legislature’s Transportation Committee.
Wang made the remarks in response to a question by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) about the ministry’s plan to stimulate the tourism sector as national borders are to reopen on Thursday next week.
While Taiwan offers direct flights to the UK and other destinations in western Europe, it has yet to offer direct flights to northern, central and east European countries, Hsu said.
Photo: CNA
“Taiwan and central and east European countries have grown closer in the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Taiwan donated masks to Europe and received vaccines donated by Lithuania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland,” Hsu added.
“Countries in eastern Europe were ruled by communists. Compared with their attitudes toward Russia and China, they have a better impression of Taiwan and think that Taiwanese are friendlier,” he said.
“Lawmakers from those countries have visited Taiwan as well, and vice versa. We should be able to launch more direct flight services to eastern Europe,” he said.
The government should consider offering direct flights to Sweden, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, he added.
Wang said flights to Prague could operate only if they have sufficient passengers.
Civil Aeronautics Administration Director-General Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) said that Taiwan and the Czech Republic have signed a civil aviation pact.
However, airlines must take into account various factors before launching new flights, Lin said, adding that CAL is the only carrier that has been asked to evaluate the feasibility of direct flights between Taiwan and Prague.
“There are more Taiwanese tourists who want to visit eastern Europe than eastern European tourists who want to visit Taiwan. As such, it would be difficult for the airline to sustain a flight service without picking up connecting passengers along the flight route,” Lin said.
Wang told Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) that the Mainland Affairs Council and the National Security Council are discussing whether the “small three links” connecting Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China’s Fujian Province would be resumed when the borders reopen.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) told the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee that the Lunar New Year holiday next year might be a more appropriate time to resume the links.
“Even though the borders will soon be reopened, the Central Epidemic Command Center still limits the number of inbound travelers to 150,000 per week, which would in turn affect the number of inbound flights to Taiwan,” Chiu said when asked why he could only give a conservative estimate on the timeline.
The Chinese Communist Party’s attitude might also affect the timeline, Chiu said.
“They do not want to lose face and would prefer to keep things low profile. We have been working on some options, which might not work if we speak about them first. We will not reveal any details unless we make certain progress in this matter,” Chiu said.
The Central Election Commission has amended election and recall regulations to require elected office candidates to provide proof that they have no Chinese citizenship, a Cabinet report said. The commission on Oct. 29 last year revised the Measures for the Permission of Family-based Residence, Long-term Residence and Settlement of People from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民在台灣地區依親居留長期居留或定居許可辦法), the Executive Yuan said in a report it submitted to the legislature for review. The revision requires Chinese citizens applying for permanent residency to submit notarial documents showing that they have lost their Chinese household record and have renounced — or have never
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 12:37pm today, with clear shaking felt across much of northern Taiwan. There were no immediate reports of damage. The epicenter of the quake was 16.9km east-southeast of Yilan County Hall offshore at a depth of 66.8km, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. The maximum intensity registered at a 4 in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳) on Taiwan’s seven-tier scale. Other parts of Yilan, as well as certain areas of Hualien County, Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, Taichung and Miaoli County, recorded intensities of 3. Residents of Yilan County and Taipei received
Taiwan has secured another breakthrough in fruit exports, with jujubes, dragon fruit and lychees approved for shipment to the EU, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency on Thursday received formal notification of the approval from the EU, the ministry said, adding that the decision was expected to expand Taiwanese fruit producers’ access to high-end European markets. Taiwan exported 126 tonnes of lychees last year, valued at US$1.48 million, with Japan accounting for 102 tonnes. Other export destinations included New Zealand, Hong Kong, the US and Australia, ministry data showed. Jujube exports totaled 103 tonnes, valued at
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
RSS