Taiwan refused to allow two Chinese airlines, Xiamen Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, to expand service to the island during the Lunar New Year holiday, Focus Taiwan agency reported yesterday after Beijing angered Taipei’s government by approving new air routes.
Taipei said military aircraft will be used to transport Taiwanese in China home from Kinmen for the Lunar New Year holiday if both sides of the Taiwan Strait fail to reach a consensus on the controversial issue of the M503 route, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
Chen Chin-sheng director-general of the Department of Navigation and Aviation, said the ministry is prepared “for the worst-case scenario, in which military aircraft will be used to fly Taiwanese home from outlying Kinmen County, the agency said.”
To board those flights, however, Taiwanese passengers will have to use the “mini-three links” mechanism established between the two sides in 2001, meaning that they will have to travel to Xiamen in Fujian Province first in order to take ferries to Kinmen.
In addition to military aircraft, existing civil aviation services between Kinmen and Taiwan could help ease the increased traffic, Chen said.
Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration announced Jan. 18 that it would hold off on approval of applications for 176 additional cross-strait flights by China Eastern Airlines Corp. and XiamenAir for the holiday period, in response to China launching the M503 northbound route and the W121, W122 and W123 east-
west extension routes without consulting Taiwan.
The move is expected to affect 30,000 China-based Taiwanese businessmen planning to return home for the holiday.
According to Focus Taiwan, it is estimated that the peak traffic will occur Feb. 13, when there has been the most flight applications from the two Chinese airlines, offering around 3,310 seats. MDT/Agencies
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