Taiwanese carriers begin flights directly over Chinese territory

This article was written by Shih Ying-ying and published by the Taiwan Journal on September 16, 2005. According to this article, Beijing's civil aviation administration recently granted four Taiwanese airlines permission to fly over Chinese territory.

The ROC government imposed a ban in 1949 on direct transport exchanges with China. Since then, all flights from Taiwan to destinations such as Europe and parts of Asia had to take roundabout routes to bypass Chinese airspace.

On August 3, 2005, however, the ROC government lifted the ban and allowed Taiwanese airlines to apply for permission to fly over China. The government further announced certain legal procedures that these airlines have to follow as they file their applications.

Four Taiwanese airlines - China Airlines, Mandarin Airlines, Eva Airways and Uni Airways - applied, and were granted permission to fly over Chinese territory by Beijing authorities on September 2, 2005. The permission applies to passenger and cargo flights out of Taipei and Kaohsiung.

The ROC government said that it "welcomed the approval of the Chinese government". Now that Taiwanese airlines can fly directly over Chinese airspace, they are expected to enjoy considerable savings in terms of flying time and fuel costs.