Image by Peter Kaminski via FlickrMostly I shy away a bit from the big headlines, but the deal between China and Taiwan on resuming direct flights on July 4 is worth a diversion from that policy. Here is the news by Bloomberg.It was clear that the new Kuomintang government in Taiwan wanted to move fast, but this is at record speed. This also means that for people in Shanghai (where most likely most flights will arrive and depart) will have Taipei much closer on their radar screen. Of course the large numbers of Taiwanese business people will save a lot of money and time with the direct flights, but the prospect of popping over to Taipei for a weekend or more is very attractive.
It is also easier to include Taiwan in one of my current activities: organizing professional speakers. On top of that: I do not need a visa for Taiwan (I believe, have to check that). I guess Taiwan's status is going to be comparable to Hong Kong: you would need at least a double entry visa to go up and down.
3 comments:
Will the flights be routed through HK as they have in the past, or fly directly across the strait?
If they would go through HK there would not be much of a change.
I think Micah's point was that in the past though direct in the sense of not landing anywhere the flights have not been direct as in the sense of 'as the crow flies' but have had to go in a big loop transiting without stopping through HK airspace rather than straight across the Strait - faster but not as quick as could be.
And no Fons, as Eurotrash, you do not need a visa for short stays in Taiwan.
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