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.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS