Four Chinese carriers will soon crowd Taipei airport

SHENZHEN Airlines, China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines and Shangdong Airlines are launching regular services to Taiwan.

Shenzhen Airlines has launched the first Shenzhen to Taipei cross-strait service and two services to Xian and Fuzhou from Changsha, reports Logistics Week.

The Taipei flight ZH9095 with an airfare not less than CNY1,200 (US$175) departs from Shenzhen at 0820 hrs and arrives at Taipei Songshan Airport Fridays and Sundays, using Boeing 737-800.

Changsha to Xian flights depart three times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving Changsha at 1520 hrs and landing on Xian at 1700 hrs. Changsha to Fuzhou flight flies daily, taking off from Changsha at 1140 hrs and arriving at Fuzhou at 1250 hrs.

China Eastern has announced launching several Taipei services departing from Nanjing, Xian, Kunming, Wuhan and Shanghai.

The Nanjing to Taipei Songshan Airport flights MU5001/2 fly twice a week Mondays and Fridays. The weekly Xian to Songshan flight will first depart on December 27 with Airbus A320/A319. The Kunming to Taipei Taoyuan flight will fly on the same day with Boeing 767 or 737-700, while the Wuhan to Taoyuan flight is to fly on December 25 with Boeing 738/733.

The airline's Shanghai cross-strait flights fly seven times a week, including Pudong to Songshan flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Pudong to Taoyuan flights on Thursdays and Sundays.

The Shanghai Airlines service flies four times Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, departing from Shanghai Pudong Airport at 1100 hrs, returning from Taipei Songshan Airport at 1200 hrs and arriving at Shanghai at 1300 hrs, using Boeing 757. The trip takes about one hour and 20 minutes, cutting down the flying time by over one hour.

Shandong Airlines will launch Qingdao to Taipei Cross-straits service December 26.

The twice-weekly flights using Boeing 737-800 aircraft fly Tuesdays and Fridays. The flight fee will be CNY1,800 (US$263) for 2.5-hours single trip and CNYB3,500 for round trips.

The service is outlined under the Cross-strait Air Transport Agreement signed by the Chinese mainland's Association for Relations across Taiwan Strait (ARATS) and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on November 4.

Source: Schednet