The Cross-Strait Civilian Flight Safety and Flight Cooperation Accord (海峽兩岸民航飛航安全與適航合作協議) went into effect yesterday after a promulgation notice was sent to China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) on Wednesday, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said.
A foundation statement released yesterday afternoon said that weekly flights across the Taiwan Strait have increased to 890, and that the accord would help ameliorate flight safety and ease limitations.
The accord is set to alleviate some of the hardships flight technicians face, the SEF said, adding that it would also help improve preventive, forewarning and oversight capabilities for flight security.
The joint communication system put in place following the implementation of the accord on Wednesday would serve to decrease the risk of accidents, as well as increase the safety of passengers, the SEF said.
ARATS and founation officials met in China’s Fujian Province on Aug. 25 last year to sign the accord, the foundation said, adding that both sides had agreed to follow their respective internal procedures and that the accord would only go into effect after a letter of notification had been received by both sides.
The draft accord was sent to the Legislative Yuan for review in September, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said.
He said that in accordance with the Legislative Yuan’s internal regulations, if the draft was not reviewed within three months of its submission, it would gain immediate legal status.
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