Taiwan-based China Airlines charter flight CI585 took off from Taipei for Shanghai at 8:03 AM today, the first charter flight across the Taiwan Straits for this year's Spring Festival, which falls on January 29.

The China Airlines Airbus A333 touched down at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport at 10:55 AM and took off again at 12:10 AM for a scheduled landing Taipei at 3:30 PM.

According to China Airlines, tickets for both flights were sold out.

This is the third time that Spring Festival charter flights have been arranged between Taiwan and the mainland.

Xinhua reported that more than 300,000 Taiwan people working, studying or living on the mainland travel back to the island during Spring Festival every year.

According to figures provided by the Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council, more than 4.3 million residents from Taiwan visited the mainland between January and November last year, when indirect trade across the Straits surged to US$82 billion.

(China.org.cn, Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2006)