TAIWAN and Hong Kong signed a civil aviation agreement in December, which will allow both sides to boost the number of regular scheduled flights between their main airports from 170 to 198 per week.
With the revised flight allocation scheduled to take effect from March, charter services from Taiwan to Hong Kong, already operated from Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung, will also be expanded to smaller local airports, which will be allowed to operate up to 28 charter flights per week.
Linda Wu, marketing and PR manager, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), based in Taipei, said: “Right now, the agreement is signed, but they still need to work out the allocations of flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong airlines.”
“Naturally, HKTB hopes this will mean more Taiwanese will be flying to Hong Kong.”
Last year, inbound numbers from Singapore to Taiwan jumped 24.1 per cent to 299,000, compared to the year before, according to figures from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. Inbound from Hong Kong and Macao to Taiwan grew 2.9 percent to 818,000 over the same period.
Spicer Lee, general manager, inbound department, of Taipei-based Phoenix Tours, attributed the strong growth from Singapore to increased flight frequencies, which were a result of an open skies deal signed last February (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 10, 2011).
“More airlines fly the (Singapore-Taiwan) route now,” said Lee. “There are the national carriers and budget airlines, like Tiger Airways, as well. They are all promoting the route.”
Meanwhile, HKTB’s Wu is anticipating a drop in airfares on the Hong Kong-Taiwan route once the agreement takes effect. “If flight frequencies increase, one would expect a drop in price due to supply and demand,” she said.
Wu added: “Lower prices would help (attract traffic from Taiwan), but last year, Hong Kong hotels raised rates by 30 per cent, and Taiwanese are still flying there. They know they can’t expect Hong Kong to be cheap. Instead, we believe they are looking for value.”
Reporting by Glenn Smith
