The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper
Taiwanese carrier to launch direct flights from Taoyuan to Cebu, Chiang Mai
CEBU - China Airlines (CAL) will launch direct flight services from Taiwan's main airport in Taoyuan to Cebu in Central Philippines, and Chiang Mai in Thailand in the coming months, the Taiwanese carrier announced.
The Taiwanese carrier said flights to Cebu, the second largest city in the Philippines, will start Dec. 1 with one roundtrip flight every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The flights, which will use an Airbus A321neo, will leave Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 7:40 a.m. and arrive in Cebu at 10:35 a.m., with the return flight departing the Philippines at 11:35 a.m. and arriving in Taiwan at 2:30 p.m., CAL said.
Meanwhile, flights from Taoyuan to Chiang Mai, set to begin on Jan. 20, 2023 using the A321neo, will take off at 7:50 a.m. every Tuesday,
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and arrive in Thailand at 11 a.m. local time.
The return flight will leave Chiang Mai at noon and arrive in Taoyuan at 5 p.m. (Taiwan time).
CAL said the A321neo, which became part of its fleet last year, has 168 seats in economy class and 12 in business class.
In anticipation of growing demand for air travel in a POST-COVID-19 world, the carrier said the return flights from Cebu and Chiang
Mai could help attract more transit passengers to change flights in Taiwan on their way to destinations in Europe and North America.
The company forecasts that its number of flights will grow by 30% in the final quarter of 2022, with those to Southeast Asia set to increase by 50%. By the time the Lunar New Year arrives in early 2023, CAL will be serving 17 destinations in Southeast Asia, the airline said. (Wang Shu-fen, Ko Lin / CNA)