Far Eastern Air may resume in Oct.

The airline has been conducting aircraft inspection and maintenance at Sungshan Airport in Taipei since early July.

The spokesman said FEAT is renting facilities at the airport from the administration's Taipei Aviation Station at a cost of NT$1.6 million per month.

Eager to resume the flights, FEAT in mid-June asked more than 80 of its staff to report for work, paying them 80 percent of their salaries until such time as flights are resumed.

FEAT was the first privately owned airline in Taiwan and had its heyday as the major carrier on Taiwan's domestic routes before the Taiwan High Speed Railway started its north-south services in March 2007.

Dwindling business and rising fuel prices took a heavy toll on the airline and it was forced to apply for bankruptcy protection early last year.

Court approval of bankruptcy protection failed to save the airline because it failed to obtain the necessary funds and it suspended all its flights after the last service between South Korea's Jeju and the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport May 16, 2008.

Many of its staff remained on duty for several months, holding on to every chance to save the company. Meanwhile, the airline received a court order three months ago, allowing it to initiate a restructuring plan.

The CAA spokesman said that while the administration has rescinded its certification for FEAT's international services, the airline can resume its regular domestic flights as well as fly cross-Taiwan Strait routes when it obtains final approval.

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