More airports may be open for charter service, says MAC

This article was published by the Macroview Weekly on June 6, 2007. It reports that apart from the two major international airports in northern and southern Taiwan, airports in other parts of the country will also be assessed for future direct cross-Taiwan Strait charter flight services.

These remarks, made by officials from the Mainland Affairs Council, came after the government's decision to include Chingchuankang Airport in Taichung County for evaluation for its cross-strait charter service plan.

“The greater Taichung area in central Taiwan must not be excluded from the central government's cross-strait cargo and passenger charter service program,” government officials said.

In response to these comments, airports in the rest of Taiwan, such as Chingchuankang Airport and Makung Airport on the outlying island of Penghu, will also be included in the program if their facilities can be improved to international standards.

However, according to MAC officials, Taoyuan Taiwan International Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport have to date been the two major airports considered for opening direct cross-strait charter services. Taiwan and China have held seven rounds of negotiations concerning the issue.