176 Flights Between Mainland, Taiwan Canceled Amid Route Spat

China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. and Xiamen Airlines Co. Ltd. have canceled a total 176 holiday flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan amid a row over routes and heightening cross-Strait tensions.

On Tuesday, the airlines posted statements on their respective official Weibo microblog accounts saying they are “strongly dissatisfied” with Taiwan’s aviation regulator — which refused to approve the flights — and that they had no choice but to act.

Earlier this month, China’s civil aviation authority designated several new routes over the Taiwan Strait, including the north-south M503 route. Taiwan authorities protested, citing security concerns.

In response, Taiwan’s transportation regulator decided not to approve China Eastern Airlines’ and Xiamen Airlines’ routine flight applications, which had been added for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, a busy travel period.

Responding to the two airlines’ claim that Taiwan is “politicizing” the issue of routes at the expense of travelers’ interests, Taiwan transportation bureau head He Chendan was quoted by local media as saying, “It is not us acting stubbornly, and using our review power as a ‘bargaining chip,’ but that the routes in question pose a security threat to Taiwan.”

Taiwan has said the new routes — particularly M503 — are too close to existing air routes that link the island to two groups of islands it administers close to the Chinese mainland.

China has repeatedly argued the routes issue is not one of “unilateral action” because the routes are within its borders, and the move aims to ease congestion in the mainland’s airspace.

On Wednesday, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan’s move has damaged the two parties’ years-long efforts to make direct flights between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland a reality.

In response to Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs head Katharine Chang’s comment that “The move is a small punishment for the mainland,” Ma said, “Anyone who takes it further and targets regular flights, and degrades the good results we achieved since 2008, will be made a ‘sinner’ of all time.”

Direct flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan began in 2008, after a hiatus of nearly 60 years.

The official Xinhua News Agency estimated that more than 50,000 people will be affected by the cancellations. Both the airlines have apologized to customers and said they will provide free refunds and rebookings for anyone who had bought a ticket for the canceled flights.

Contact reporter Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com)