It will be Mandarin's third international air route from Kaohsiung following the opening of Kaohsiung-Hong Kong and Kaohsiung-Ho Chi Minh City routes.

According to the spokesman, the maiden Kaohsiung-Okinawa flight will depart from Kaohsiung at 6: 40 p.m. Friday and is scheduled to arrive in Okinawa at 9:10 p.m.

The Kaohsiung-Okinawa charter service will use a Embrear 190 jet that seats 104 passengers. Each of the first 80 passengers will be given an E190 miniature as a souvenir, the spokesman said, adding that Mandarin is planning to operate one round-trip chartered flight every four days.

Meanwhile, Mandarin will also open a Kaohsiung-Cebu route Sept. 16, with its first flight scheduled to depart from the southern port city at 11 a.m. and arrive in the Philippine city at 1:20 p.m.

The spokesman said the airline is planning to operate two charter flights between Kaohsiung and Cebu every Thursday and Sunday and that seats for the maiden flight are fully booked.