Taiwan's soccer fans are on their way to the World Cup.
The first charter flight by a Taiwan air carrier took off yesterday for Seoul, full of Taiwanese wearing soccer jerseys.
It was the first direct flight by a domestic carrier since diplomatic relations and air links were cut a decade ago.
The chartered Boeing 757 left Taipei on a two-and-a-half hour flight to Seoul, its organizer, Far East Air Transport Co said in a statement.
It was the first of three scheduled flights the Taiwan company is to make during the World Cup, which runs from May 31 to June 30.
Originally, the two sides wanted to permit more flights and were working toward a proposed twice-weekly service.
Then, the two sides fell out over protocol for a visit by First Lady Wu Shu-chen (
President Chen Shui-bian (
"It is unlikely that Taiwan and South Korea will resume air links between the two nations unless South Korea can express the most basic goodwill and sincerity," he said during an inspection tour of southern Taiwan.
A spokeswoman from the Chinese Taipei Football Association said yesterday that direct flights by a domestic air carrier was welcome news but would not affect its own travel arrangements to the World Cup.
She said the association had made arrangements with foreign airline companies Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific to fly direct to Seoul.
She also dismissed suggestions that tickets forwarded to the association by World Cup organizers FIFA were being sold illegally over the Internet.
Taiwan's soccer association was given an allocation of 200 tickets for the use of coaches and officials connected with the game.
"FIFA has put names on these tickets and we haven't even received them yet, so I doubt that they are being sold."
She said not all the tickets had been given to soccer officials and that some would go on offer to the public through the Internet company MVP 168.
Even so, Internet companies and private individuals have been selling tickets for the tournament and demand has been strong.
On various Web sites such as Oriented.org, organizations and individuals have been selling packages that include plane tickets, transport to the hotel and the stadium and hotel accommodation.
Tickets are being auctioned off to the highest bidder with successful bids of up to NT$100,000 being made.
Travel companies have also been doing a roaring trade with foreign air carriers such as Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific increasing the number of flights to Seoul and Tokyo.
Taiwan suspended direct air links served by the countries' carriers in 1992, after South Korea broke off formal relations with Taiwan and instead recognized China.
There have been talks about resuming flights, but Taiwan has insisted that Seoul respects the nation's sovereignty first.
Domestic airlines hoped the World Cup would help normalize flights between the two countries.
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