From August 31st, the number of both scheduled and chartered cross-Straits flights between Hangzhou to Chinese Taipei increased from 14 a week to 23.

The flights are scheduled between the Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport and Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Songshan Airport, Kaohsiung and Taichung.

Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport

Since the implementation of regular flights, about 5000 passengers can be flown in a week, compared with the former 3753.

In addition to Hangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Nanjing, Shenzhen, and Ningbo are also the first destinations to begin regular scheduled cross-Straits flights.

Aviation sectors on both sides are well prepared for the regular services and passengers can now buy tickets directly from the airlines.

So far, there have been no signs of price cuts though industry insiders believe, market demand will determine future air fares.

The previous average flight occupancy from the mainland was over 80 percent and 70 percent off-season. But flights during the peak period were always fully booked.

At present analysts are not expecting average ticket prices to change in the short term.

By Xie Fang