Negotiation breakthroughs for new flight routes to Italy and Finland would greatly enhance logistics, tourism and travel convenience between Taiwan and those countries, Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Director-General Ho Shu-ping (何淑萍) said yesterday.
Ho made the remarks in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times).
As more routes are added, the density of connections between airports would improve, making it easier for tourists, travelers and cargo to move more efficiently, she said.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
In February, Taiwan reached an agreement with Finland, its first such aviation pact with a Northern European country.
Both sides agreed to allow 14 passenger and 14 cargo flights per week between Taiwan and Finland, Ho said.
Northern Europe is a “blue ocean” market for Taiwan, with untapped potential for air links, Ho said, adding that Taiwan might eventually might eventually operate code-shared flights with Finnair.
In March, Taiwan and Italy amended their air services agreement to expand passenger flights from seven to 19 per week, she said.
The previous arrangement allowed three weekly flights to Rome and four to Milan, operated by China Airlines and EVA Air respectively, which together carried 179,000 passengers last year, she added.
Daily flights to Italy would provide greater convenience, especially for business travelers heading to Milan, she said.
China Airlines, EVA Air and Starlux have already submitted applications to operate direct flights to Italy, and traffic through Milan is expected to increase significantly, she added.
The CAA plans to increase the number of flights to Europe, which currently accounts for only 3 percent of Taiwanese international flights, Ho said.
Last month, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport signed a sister airport agreement with Dulles International Airport in Washington, which could encourage airlines to establish direct services between the two airports, she said.
As a major transportation hub in Southeast and Northeast Asia, Taiwan is implementing a one-stop security check system in line with recommendations from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), waiving repeated inspections for passengers, carry-on bags, and checked luggage, she added.
Transiting travelers from New Zealand must still undergo personal and carry-on checks, but those procedures are expected to be waived in the future, she said.
Taiwan should be included in the ICAO, Ho said, citing the 1.64 million flights that pass through its airspace annually, which lies adjacent to the Fukuoka, Manila, Hong Kong and Shanghai Flight Information Regions (FIRs).
Taiwan is excluded from the ICAO due to Chinese pressure, but the organization should disregard Beijing’s protests, Ho said, citing not only global aviation security, but also ICAO’s own standards and recommendations under the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
As Taiwan is not a member, it is unable to directly access ICAO information, which creates practical difficulties, Ho said.
For instance, Taiwan must verify rules with other countries on matters such as whether power banks are permitted on flights, and it must coordinate with neighboring FIRs when setting up new flight routes, she said.
Taiwan’s inclusion would also benefit the global aviation community, as Taiwan could share its innovative management methods for drones, a system praised internationally, as well as other technologies, such as software that updates FIRs on flight schedules disrupted by weather, she added.
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