Civil aircraft of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan took off from
Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Taipei respectively Saturday
morning, kicking off the first ever non-stop, round-trip charter
flights across the Taiwan Straits in 56 years.
This was also the first time since 1949 that the mainland
jetliner headed for Taiwan in normal commercial flights.
Air China charter flight CA1087, which departed from the Beijing
Capital Airport at 8?AM Saturday for Taipei, was the first
mainland jet to take off. Some 88 passengers aboard the plane were
all Taiwan business people and their families homebound for
traditional family reunion during the upcoming Spring Festival, or
the Chinese lunar new year.
But, charter flight CZ3097 of the China Southern Airlines with
242 passengers aboard, which left Guangzhou almost the same time as
the Air China flight, was the first mainland aircraft to land in
Taiwan after a 90-minute journey.
"We will break the 56-year-long isolation between civil aviation
sectors across the Straits in only 100 minutes," Hao Jianhua, chief
pilot of the flight, had told Xinhua in an exclusive interview
Friday. .
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And it actually took even less time. The plane, which took off
from the Guangzhou airport at around 8?AM Saturday, touched
down at about 9:27 AM. "We have made history," said a senior
manager of China Southern Airlines.
It took more than four hours for the Air China jetliner to fly
from Beijing to Taipei. But the air route by way of Hong Kong
without stop can save 6 hours of flying time and two thirds of
passengers' airfare.
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Taiwan flight lands in Beijing
A charter plane of Taiwan-based China Airlines, ferrying more
than 200 passengers, landed in Beijing Saturday noon after about
4-hours of non-stop flight.
It previously took around 10 hours to make the same trip, which
included compulsory stopover in either Hong Kong or Macao.
Previously, travelers flying between the mainland and Taiwan
must stop over at a third destination, usually Hong Kong and
Macao.
Charter flights of the Shanghai Airlines and the Xiamen Airlines
departed from Shanghai, bound for Kaohsiung and Taipei Saturday.
Jets of Taiwan-based China Airlines and Eva Airlines, carrying
relatives of Taiwan business people who would stay in the mainland
during the Spring Festival period, flew from Taipei to Beijing.
The Saturday flights marked the beginning of a three-week-long
special charter flight scheme, under which 12 airlines of the
mainland and Taiwan would run 48 non-stop, round-trip flights
exclusively for the Taiwan business people and their families.
The mainland and Taiwan civil aviation professionals reached
consensus about the launch of the charter flights earlier this
month in Macao. The two sides agreed to run the flights from Jan.
29 to Feb. 20 between mainland cities of Beijing, Shanghai and
Guangzhou and Taiwan's Taipei and Kaohsiung.
The charter flights were warmly welcomed by the Taiwan business
people and their relatives. China Southern Airlines sources
revealed that some of the passengers on board its plane had booked
round-trip tickets simply to bear witness to this important
journey. "They would also be on the plane when it returns in the
afternoon," said the sources.
The international community have also shown enthusiasm toward
the successful non-stop commercial flights.
"We welcome cross-straits flights during the Chinese New Year
holiday period," the State Department of the United States said in
a statement.
In 2003, Taiwan civil jetliners were allowed for the first time
since 1949 to fly to the mainland under a similar charter flight
scheme. However, due to restrictions of the Taiwan authorities, the
flights had to make stopovers in Hong Kong or Macao and no mainland
airlines were involved.
(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2005)
