The charter flight CZ6051 of China Southern Airlines took off Saturday morning from Longjia International Airport in Changchun, capital of Jilin and arrived at Taipei’s Songshan Airport three and a half hours later.
This is the first ever direct flight between Jilin and Taiwan.
China Southern plans to carry out four round-trip charter flights for the holidays. Tickets have all been sold out. Direct flights between Changchun and Taipei could save travelers three hours.
Zhang Weidong, deputy general manager of China Southern’s Jilin branch, told Xinhua the carrier will hope to open regular direct flights between Changchun and cities in Taiwan after the Spring Festival.
Last December, civil aviation authorities from the Mainland and Taiwan agreed to open regular direct cross-Strait flights in four more Mainland cities: Taiyuan, Changchun, Nanning and Yantai, bringing the total number of Mainland terminals to 31.
China Daily reports the Mainland and Taiwan had 270 flights between them weekly in January, 2010.