The 2006 Spring Festival direct charter flights service across the Taiwan Straits successfully wrapped up Tuesday, the third day following the wake of the one-week Spring Festival holiday that began on January 29.

After a 90-minute flight across the Taiwan Strait, a Boeing B757, carrying about 300 passengers, completed the last return voyage of the Spring Festival charter flights flown by Xiamen Airlines at 3:40 p.m Tuesday. It marked the successful completion of this year's Lunar New Year charter flights between the mainland and Taiwan.

There were altogether 16 return charter flights between the designated Chinese mainland cities and cities in Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday.

In all, there were 72 round-trip flights this year, compared with 48 in 2005. For the first time, the charter flights this year served all Taiwan residents bearing valid travel documents across the Straits, including tourists and students. Previously, they mainly served business people.

According to an agreement reached between the civil aviation associations of both sides, the direct charter flights were scheduled to run from January 20 to February 13, one day after the Lantern Festival. Six mainland airlines and six Taiwan-based airlines were approved to fly the charter flights.

The Chinese Lunar New Year, which fell on January 29 this year, is the most important occasion for family reunions in the Chinese culture. Preliminary statistics show that more than 300,000 Taiwan people working or living on the mainland returned to Taiwan during the Spring Festival period.

Despite the popularity, the charter flights were arranged only for the Spring Festival travel period. Those traveling by air between Taiwan and the Mainland during other times of the year must resort to the six-hour or even longer indirect flights, often via Hong Kong.

(CRIENGLISH.com February 9, 2006)