Mandarin Airlines yesterday said it hoped to receive approval to stop operating its Kaohsiung-Hualien and Taichung-Hualien routes because of persistently low demand and rising losses.
Mandarin Airlines chairman Chen Ta-chun (陳大鈞) said the average passenger load for its Taichung-Hualien flights is about 30 percent and 20 percent for Kaohsiung-Hualien flights.
Last year, a flight leaving from Kaohsiung for Hualien carried only five passengers, Chen said.
Photo: Huang Yi-ching, Taipei Times
The airline tried to attract railway passengers to fly to their destinations by offering a 50 percent discount on fares, but to no avail, he said.
Calculating costs based on fuel prices, the carrier estimated that it would sustain financial losses of NT$70 million (US$2.2 million) this year if it continues to operate the two routes.
“I keep asking why we continue this pointless struggle. Without the flights, people can still use railway and highway services to Hualien,” Chen said.
“I have no problem increasing flights to outlying islands, because there are fewer options to access them,” he added.
The airline offers three weekly flights between Taichung and Hualien, with roundtrip tickets costing NT$2,472. The Kaohsiung-Hualien flights are available daily, with roundtrip tickets costing NT$2,329.
Based on flight reservations this week, the average load for flights from Kaohsiung to Lienchiang County (Matsu) is about 94 percent and 87 percent for return flights, the airline said.
The average load for flights to Kinmen County is nearly 100 percent and 88 percent for return flights, it added.
The loads for Taipei-Taichung and Taichung-Kinmen flights are more than 80 percent, the airline said.
The airline hopes to receive permission to cancel the two services to Hualien, Chen said, adding that the company is willing to dispatch additional flights to the county when railway and highway services are disrupted due to natural disasters.
That would give it additional capacity to conduct outlying island services, he said.
Domestic flight tickets have not been adjusted for 26 years, but monthly and hourly wages have risen 53 percent and 70 percent respectively over the past 12 years, he said, adding that rent for airport counters and offices, as well as ground service fees, have increased.
Fuel costs accounted for 21 percent of the airline’s overall operating costs, up from 13 percent prior to the war in the Middle East, Chen said.
The company is projected to generate NT$6 billion in revenue this year, but losses might be 10 percent due to rising fuel prices, he said, adding that the airline is seeking to increase advertising revenue through complimentary in-flight items, such as bottled water and napkins.
The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said that it understands the flight carrier’s plight and empathizes with the airline, and would carefully assess its recommendations.
The CAA in 1999 set formulas for calculating the upper and lower cap of domestic flight ticket prices by factoring in 14 cost items submitted by airlines.
Domestic flight carriers set the ticket prices based on the scheme. In 2014, it allowed carriers to adjust ticket prices whenever fuel prices change.
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