One of All Nippon Airway’s (ANA) Star Wars-themed aircraft is scheduled to arrive at the Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on Saturday, the airline said yesterday.
ANA said that the Star Wars-themed airplane is to be used as the Boeing 787 aircraft that is normally used to carry passengers traveling between Tokyo and Taipei is undergoing maintenance.
It would be the first time the airline’s R2-D2 airplane — named after the robot in the Star Wars films — would land in Taiwan, the airline company said
Photo: CNA
The Japanese airline said that it unveiled three different Star Wars-themed aircraft last year.
However, they have mostly been used on long-distance flights and have never been used to carry passengers between Taiwan and Japan, the company added.
ANA said the airplane is scheduled to arrive at the Songshan airport at 3:45pm, and is to leave at 4:45pm to return to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, adding that the flight numbers are NH853 and NH854 respectively.
The airline said that the company might decide to change the aircraft the day before departure due to various reasons, adding that there are only six to seven seats remaining on Flight NH854.
Star Wars fans interested in taking photographs of the aircraft can do so at Songshan airport’s observation deck on the third floor of Terminal Two.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,