Taipei - Taiwan plans to reopen its domestic Taipei Airport
for international flights, eyeing Haneda Airport in Tokyo as the
first possible target in a bid to promote tourism, aviation officials
said Thursday.
'Relevant agencies from Taiwan and Japan will hold talks next
month in Tokyo for the revision of the Taiwan-Japan aviation
agreement, during which we will propose that the two sides launch
flights between Taipei and Haneda airports,' said a senior official
with the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA).
The official, who declined to be identified, said initially,
Taiwan hopes to launch two round-trip flights every day between the
two airports.
She said Haneda Airport is constructing a fourth runway, which
will facilitate such flights after its completion by the end of 2010.
After Japan, Taipei Airport will also launch flights to other
countries, she said.
Local travel agencies Thursday welcomed the plan, saying it would
help increase holiday trips between Taipei and Tokyo, given the
convenience between Taipei and Haneda airports.
'From Narita International Airport to downtown Tokyo, it
takesabout 90 minutes, and from Taoyuan International Airport to
downtown Taipei, it takes about 45 minutes. If there are flights
between Taipei and Haneda airports, the time and cost spent would be
saved at least by half,' said travel agent Liu Li-hsun.
Taipei and Haneda were international airports until the 1970s.
Recently, Taiwan has permitted Chinese planes to land at Taipei
Airport, considering them as the so-called 'cross-strait' flights
instead of international flights. Japan has also used Haneda Airport
for flights to South Korea and China.
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