Spring Airlines Co Ltd, the nation's only low cost carrier, will launch direct flights from Shanghai to Kaohsiung on Oct 27, becoming the first privately owned carrier from the Chinese mainland to run direct flights across the Taiwan Straits.

From Oct 27, the Shanghai-based airline will start thrice-weekly flights on the route, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, taking about two hours and 10 minutes.

Kaohsiung is Taiwan's second-largest city and an industrial hub located in the southwest part of the island. Shanghai, which boasts premium infrastructure, business environment and bright prospects for economic development, has attracted many Taiwan people to move there.