In 2003, six Taiwanese airlines operated 16 charter flights between Taipei, Kaohsiung and Shanghai, withstopoversin Hong Kong or Macao. Meanwhile, mainland carriers were excluded from the indirect charter flight arrangement.
John Chang, a Kuomintang "lawmaker" who initiated the cross-Straits charter flight programme in 2002, compared Saturday"s flights to "swallows that foretell the coming of spring."
"The successful launching of such charter flights has fully demonstrated that both sides of the Straits have enough wisdom, farsight and patience to solve existing problems," he told a celebration ceremony to mark the start of the historic flights in Beijing.
"We hope the charter flights will help ease cross-Straits tensions and improve bilateral relations."
Li Jiaxiang, president of Air China, expressed his wish for an early realization of direct air links between Taiwan and the mainland to make it more convenient for travellers from both sides.
"It is the common aspiration of all people across the Straits that the charter flights could become regular air services to save time and money," he said.
China Airlines President Phillip Wei said his company was glad to participate in the charter flight programme despite a predicted loss for its four round-trip charter flights.
"We are proud of running the first and historic flight between Taipei and Beijing," he said.
Many passengers returned to their ports of departure on the same aircraft on Saturday after joining flights just to be a part of the memorable moment, airline officials said.
【大陆民航班机56年来首次飞往台湾】相关文章:
最新
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15