Center

Agreement produces new Taiwan link

By Zhou Weirong (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-03 11:28

SHANGHAI: While direct flights to Taiwan are still politically impossible, a smooth journey directly across the Taiwan Straits will soon become reality for thousands of Taiwanese doing business in the mainland.

In a joint press conference yesterday, Xiamen International Airport Group and Taiwan-based Uni Air announced that the two sides will work together to provide daily seamless transfer services for passengers travelling across the straits, beginning later this month.

Taiwan-based Uni Air's first flight lands in the Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport on January 26, 2006. [baidu.com]

According to the arrangement, passengers from the mainland must first fly to Xiamen, where they will pass through a special air-sea joint operation service counter at the airport.

The counter will clear customs and handle ticket and baggage issues for the passengers before they are transferred to Jinmen by boat to take another flight to Taiwan proper via Uni Air. Jinmen is the closest Taiwanese island to the mainland, about 13 kilometres from Xiamen.

Currently, Uni Air's flights connect Kinmen with the Taiwanese cities of Taipei, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung. Service counters like that in Xiamen will also be set up in the airports of these five cities, where travellers will get the relevant procedures settled before they make the transfer to the mainland.