A direct flight service between Taiwan and the Czech Republic is expected to be launched in July, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said on Friday.
The new route would have two regular flights per week between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Vaclav Havel Airport in Prague, Wang told lawmakers during a legislative interpellation session.
Taiwan has already received commercial aviation rights for the route, while the applications for each flight information region are still in progress, Wang said.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications and China Airlines, Taiwan’s main carrier, have mulled the establishment of direct flights between the two countries for more than five years, Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) wrote on Facebook.
Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil has been looking forward to the establishment of direct flight services between the two countries, You said, adding that they met during You’s visit to the European nation in July last year.
After returning to Taiwan, You asked authorities to speed up the evaluation on the establishment of direct flights between the two countries, he said.
In September last year, a delegation led by Czech Senator Jiri Drahos visited Taiwan, during which he expressed enthusiasm for direct flights to be established between the two countries.
Although Taiwan and the Czech Republic signed an air services agreement in October 2007, there have been no direct flights between them, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said.
China Airlines said it was optimistic about the new route, and that preparations are under way to launch the direct flight service in July.
The airline would operate two flights per week between the two countries, it said.
Typhoon Champi is forecast to turn northward earlier than previously expected, sparing Taiwan a direct hit but still bringing heavy rain to the north of the country on Friday and Saturday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Typhoon Champi had strengthened and increased in size over the past 12 hours, and as of yesterday afternoon, was packing sustained winds of 198kph near its center, CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said. However, due to the weakening of a Pacific high-pressure system the storm is now expected to turn northward earlier than initially forecast, likely around Japan’s Ishigaki Island, Cheng said. As Champi brushes
A sea warning for Typhoon Champi might be issued tonight, while the storm’s trajectory would determine whether a land warning is to be issued tomorrow night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Champi was about 1,536km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), packing maximum sustained winds of 198kph, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said. The storm was moving west-northwest at 23kph and was expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours before weakening slightly as it approaches cooler waters east of Taiwan, Tseng said. Champi is expected to turn north tomorrow, with the angle of the
A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy aircraft carrier group was being monitored after entering the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense said today, after Beijing yesterday criticized Taiwan for using a water cannon against a Chinese fishing boat near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). A Chinese naval task group led by the aircraft carrier Liaoning (遼寧) yesterday sailed to the western Pacific for training, Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the PLA Navy as saying. “The drill is part of the annual routine training plan aimed at testing and improving the troops’ combat readiness and enhancing their ability to
TYPHOON WATCH Champi closes to east Typhoon Champi could continue to strengthen and approach waters off eastern Taiwan by Thursday, with some forecast models suggesting it could move west and cross the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Champi was 2,980km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, and moving west at 22kph. It had maximum sustained winds of 162kph and a storm radius of 180km, CWA data showed. CWA forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳) said Champi could intensify as it moves west before turning west-northwest toward Taiwan. The storm is expected to reach waters off eastern
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