he Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday confirmed that it has agreed to allow Mandarin Airlines to reduce flight services from Kaohsiung and Taichung to Hualien amid consistently low load factors, but said it is still reviewing the airline’s application to completely suspend services.
The average passenger occupancy rate of Taipei-Hualien flights from 2023 to last year was only 36 percent, while the average load factors for Kaohsiung-Hualien and Taichung-Hualien flights during the same period were 37 percent and 44 percent respectively, agency data showed.
Mandarin Airlines operates the Taichung-Hualien and Kaohsiung-Hualien flight services, while Uni Air handles Taipei-Hualien flights.
Photo courtesy of Mandarin Airlines
Both have submitted applications to completely suspend flight services to Hualien.
Mandarin Airlines has been granted permission to reduce its weekly flights to Hualien from Taichung and Kaohsiung from 10 per week to five. The change could take effect in November.
The agency said it asked Mandarin Airlines to provide supplementary information after taking into account the demand from Hualien residents.
“After Mandarin Airlines indicated that it would handle this matter in a progressive and orderly manner, we agreed to allow the airline to reduce flights to Hualien if there were not many bookings made in advance. They can utilize the unused capacity to provide services for routes with relatively higher passenger demand,” the agency said. “We will continue watching the airline’s subsequent operation and make a comprehensive assessment.”
It said it has not granted Uni Air’s request to fully suspend its Taipei-Hualien flights.
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