3 more cities in China join cross-strait air services

Following an agreement signed in early November expanding the nonstop charters, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Dalian have been added to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing as cities in China to be served by local carriers.

Hangzhou, located in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, appears to be the most popular of the new destinations with 11 flights from Taiwan per week, according to the schedules released by local carriers China Airlines (CAL) and its affiliate Mandarin Airlines, EVA Airways and its affiliate UNI Airways, and Trans Asia Airways.

The CAL/Mandarin Airlines flight schedule shows they will offer one daily charter from Taoyuan to Shanghai and four Taoyuan-Shenzhen flights and three Taoyuan-Beijing flights per week.

They will also offer two charter flights per week from Taoyuan to Hangzhou, Nanjing and Guangzhou, and one flight per week from Taichung to Hangzhou and Kaohsiung to Shanghai. CAL is the largest airline in Taiwan.

EVA Airways/UNIAirways will operate services destined to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shengzhen and Hangzhou, while Trans Asia Airways will offer flights to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Dalian.

EVA Airways officials noted that the flight time between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Shanghai will be shortened from the current 2 hours and 55 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes when the new services begin Dec. 15.

The shorter travel times were part of the agreement forged by Taiwan and China in early November, which allows Taiwanese and Chinese carriers to fly to destinations in China more directly rather than being required to make a detour through Hong Kong’s air space.

Under the historic agreement, the existing direct weekend charter services, operated between Friday and Monday, will be expanded to every day of the week, with the number of flights provided rising from 36 to 108 per week.

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