Taiwan air carriers cut 1,000 flights in two weeks

Taipei, May 26, 2003 (CENS)--Taiwan's air carriers are forced to cut a record 1,000 flights during the period of May 18 to 31 due to drastically reduced number of passengers caused by SARS fears, according to the Civilian Aeronautics Administration (CAA).

CAA officials said most of the canceled flights are tourism routes and those linking Taiwan and offshore islands. Among the 1,000 flights cut during the two-week period, the aviation service between Taiwan and the frontline island of Kinmen suffers the biggest reduction of 198 flights per week mainly because of the suspension of the "mini three links" connecting mainland China.

The four domestic air carriers already started scaling down their operations and provide joint services to cut operating costs amid economic slowdown last year. During the month of March, the passengers dropped 14% from the same month of last year. Following the widespread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus, the number of passengers shrank 30% during April. The slide has widened to 52% in May.

In view of the dramatically reduced number of international flyers, the nation's leading air carrier China Airlines has worked out an incentive measure to encourage employees to take early retirement to cope with falling revenues. Around 100 staff have reportedly taken the offer.

The number of passengers passing through the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport totaled 6,813 last Saturday, a record weekend low since the airport was inaugurated in 1979. Only 3,027 arrivals and 3,786 people departing, according to airport officials.

The outbreak of SARS, the quarantine regulations, and the World Health Organization's (WHO) issuing of travel alerts on trips to Taiwan slashed the number of passengers passing through the major airport in northern Taiwan to 16,444 on April 14 further down to just 7,112 on May 22.

Officials at the Tourism Bureau said that the number of international tourists visiting Taiwan retreated by 80% since the beginning of this month. Only 34,700 foreigners flew into Taiwan May 1-18. Outbound travelers also fell by 80%. The room occupation rate of international tourist hotels reached only 37.4% in April, down by 40% from the same month of last year.

The government will not be able to achieve the goal of boosting the number of incoming tourists to the preset target of 3.5 million. The best possible situation is to hit the goal of 2.5 million on the precondition that the SARS threats can be placed under control in June.