Passenger numbers on the ferry service between Kinmen and the Chinese port of Xiamen were up yesterday despite the kick-off of special cross-strait Lunar New Year charter flights the same day, according to a Kinmen County Government official.
Lin Cheng-cha (林振查), director of Kinmen's Transportation and Tourism Bureau, said a total of 462 China-based Taiwanese businesspeople arrived in Kinmen aboard two ferries yesterday before flying on to Taiwan, marking a single day high for the year.
With the approach of the Lunar New Year, Lin predicted that passenger numbers will continue to increase as more and more Taiwanese businesspeople head back home for the holidays via Kinmen.
The ferry service was inaugurated four years ago to facilitate Taiwan businesspeople traveling between Taiwan and China in the absence of direct cross-strait flight services. The service seemed unaffected by the launch of the special cross-strait charter flights yesterday.
A Taiwan businessman, surnamed Liu, told reporters at the pier at Shuitou, Kinmen that the charter flights don't extend to Xiamen, where some 300,000 Taiwan businesspeople are based. For these individuals, traveling via Kinmen is still the most convenient way to return to Taiwan, he noted.
Liu, who comes from Taichung, said the Kinmen route is quicker than flying from Fuzhou, Fujian Province to Guangzhou in Guangdong Province before boarding one of the special charter flights to Taoyuan or Kaohsiung.
"The Xiamen-Kinmen route is irreplaceable for Taiwanese operating in Fujian." he said.
Meanwhile, Lin said there are currently four round trips offered per day on the ferry route between Kinmen and Xiamen, with the number to increase to six round trips Feb. 1, with a total capacity of 3,216 passengers per day.
He estimated that more than 30,000 passengers will use the ferry before the holidays end Feb. 18.
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