Flights to Shanghai

Domestic airlines yesterday urged the Chinese government to increase the number of cross strait flights to Shanghai and other large cities in China.They also urged civil aviation authorities in Taiwan and China to resolve outstanding issues on airworthiness certification for cross-strait flights.Because Taiwan has yet to acknowledge the validity of airworthiness certifications issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China CAAC, and vice versa, Taiwanese airlines have to fly their own staff to China to certify the airworthiness of each airplane.

If any of our aircraft have to be repaired in China, officials at Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration CAA have to approve the qualifications of the company and the maintenance workers’ aptitude before granting a certificate, said Tony Su, chairman of the Taipei Airlines Association.The airlines made the suggestions at a cross strait aviation forum yesterday.

China Airlines chairman Philip Wei, EVA Air chairman Solomon Lin and the heads of three other domestic carriers, attended the meeting.Civil Aviation Administration of China Deputy Director Xia Xing-hua the forum in his capacity as the senior consultant of the China Air Transportation Association.While Taiwanese airlines requested an increase in the number of flights to first tier cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, Xia said that the airlines should strive to expand the number of flights to second tier cities.

Xia said Chinese airlines brought about 1.2 million passengers to Taiwan last year, while Taiwanese carriers delivered 1.75 million passengers to China.He said the Taiwanese airlines focused mainly on flights to the first-tier cities among the 31 Chinese cities open to cross-strait flights.Air traffic to second-tier cities, such as Chengdu, Tianjin, Kunming and Nanjing, was increasing as well, he said.Asked if China would increase the number of flights to Shanghai in May because of the Shanghai Expo, Xia said: will consider all the possible scenarios and might increase flights.

Su said the Taiwanese airlines would evaluate the demand for flights to second-tier cities, but he noted that although Taitung and Hualien are open to cross strait flights, no Chinese airlines have applied to service those airports.Regarding increasing the number of direct flights between Taipei Songshan International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, Xia said the airport in Taipei was in the process of expanding its facilities and was not currently able to accommodate larger aircraft.