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Tang Yonghong, an economist with the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, said that policy translates into one flight per hour from Xiamen or Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian, to Taiwan.
"Once the network is set up, people can live in Taiwan while working in Xiamen. They can catch dinner time with the family in Taipei," he said.
But that prospect, Tang said, depends upon the opening of direct air routes from Fujian to Taiwan.
For decades, travelers had to transfer at a third airport to travel across the Taiwan Strait by air. In 2003, the two sides agreed to operate charter flights during the Spring Festival -- the Chinese equivalent of Christmas.
Regular direct flights across the Taiwan Strait have been available since August 2008 when Taiwanese authorities lifted a partial ban on mainland tourists visiting the island.
As of May 2010, about 3.6 million passengers and 93,000 tons of cargo have traveled across the Strait by regular direct flights. Further, cross-Strait flights now land in 33 destinations.
Airlines from both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have announced they would slash cross-Strait airfares by 10 to 15 percent, Li announced on Sunday, amid expectations that the number of mainlanders traveling to Taiwan this year will surge to one million. |
