Two international airlines are to launch flights between Taipei and Abu Dhabi, and between Kaohsiung and San Francisco as the nation’s flight services are estimated to return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels this year, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said on Friday.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is scheduled to launch direct flights from Taipei to Abu Dhabi in September, while United Airlines is to launch flights from Kaohsiung to San Francisco via Tokyo in July, CAA Director-General Ho Shu-ping (何淑萍) said.
Last year, Taiwan’s international flight passengers reached 53.56 million, which was 89 percent of the 2019 level, CAA data showed.
Photo: CNA
“With a rapid rebound of business travelers and outbound tourism, airlines quickly seized business opportunities by readjusting their fleet and operational priorities, launching new flight services and increasing flights from existing waypoints,” Ho said.
Meanwhile, the government provided incentives for airlines to offer services in Taiwan, Ho said, adding that the number of international flight passengers is expected to return to the pre-pandemic levels this year.
Based on winter flight schedules of 60 international airlines operating in Taiwan, an average of 2,782 international flights operate throughout the nation every week, helping travelers reach 102 airports around the world, the CAA said.
On average, there are 140 more weekly flights in summer than winter, it said.
Flights to and from North America rose by 27 percent last year compared with 2019, following a 14 percent increase in flights to and from Southeast Asia, it said.
About 91 percent of pre-pandemic flights to and from Hong Kong and Macao had resumed last year, while only 51 percent of flights between Taiwan and China had resumed, the agency said.
The recovery of flights between Taiwan and China was relatively slow because of cross-strait tensions, it added.
While the number of flights between Taiwan and Japan increased 4 percent from 2019, a closer analysis showed that limited capacity of ground operations in some Japanese airports limited the speed of recovery, it said.
Flights between the two nations could grow even more, it added.
The number of international flight passengers could reach 54.98 million to 61.78 million this year and surpass the pre-pandemic level, it said.
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