Taipei refuses consent for the services over the Lunar New Year holiday in protest over Beijing setting up new flight routes near the island without its approval
Taiwan has refused permission for nearly 200 flights by Chinese airlines over the strait that separates the two rivals due to the carriers’ use of controversial new travel routes introduced by China.
Taipei has repeatedly called for four new flight paths to be cancelled since China launched them earlier in January, but their complaints have fallen on deaf ears on the mainland.
The authorities on the island said they had not been consulted over the routes and described their introduction as “reckless”, endangering flight safety, and politically motivated.
China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Air have since requested to operate 176 additional flights between Taiwan and mainland China during the Lunar New Year period in mid-February.
But Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration said on Friday it had refused permission because the two airlines had been using the controversial new routes, even though the extra Lunar New Year flights they requested would not have flown along them.
It is the first action taken against mainland Chinese airlines over the row.
Taipei protests after Beijing opens new aviation corridors over Taiwan Strait
“The two airlines’ requests are not approved for now because they are operating other flights using the M503 and related routes that are launched without a consensus between the two sides,” a aeronautics administration official said.
