Taiwan Today

Regular direct flights between Taiwan and the mainland are set to begin August 31, with the airfare reduced by 15 percent and tickets valid for seven days, one month, or an entire year. During the third round of talks between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation and its mainland counterpart, the Association For Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, the two sides reached an agreement that cross-strait charter flights would be changed to regular services. The number of flights available would be increased to 270 per week, up from the current 108. Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration, under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, had hoped the new rules could take effect in July. The CAA and local airlines had hoped the final review process would be carried out as soon as the agreements reached by the third round of SEF-ARATS took effect June 26. Mainland authorities responded June 22 that it takes a certain amount of time to review documents, get the ground crew ready and prepare airports for new flights. Better to make sure that the preparations are one hundred percent completed before direct flights begin, they said, and proposed an Aug. 31 starting date. Airline operators pointed out that the Civil Aeronautics Administration cannot submit flight schedule proposals to the mainland’s aviation authorities until after it has completed reviewing the proposals first. It is estimated that tickets will be sold starting mid July and flights will begin at the end of August. When the plans are put in place, passengers will be able to purchase tickets and reserve seats directly on the Internet. Schedules will be adjusted twice a year, once in summer and another in winter, in accordance with international practice. With regular flight schedules, it will be easier for travelers to arrange their itinerary. As to ticket prices, the focus of much concern, the CAA will take the published price as a base, and ask the airlines to offer discounts on the published price, in response to public demands for lower prices. The actual price will frequently be very different from the published price. The published price for a Taipei-Hong Kong ticket, for instance, is NT$15,000 (US$456), but currently sells for NT$4,000. The CAA expects airlines to offer at least a 15 percent discount off the published price. In this way the CAA leaves airlines with room to maneuver.