Air China Opens Office in Taiwan

Home > About Us > Air China News > Air China Opens Office in Taiwan

On the afternoon of March 16, 2009, Air China held a grand opening ceremony and cocktail party at the Grand Formosa Regent in Taipei. Themed Cross - Straits Communication, the party celebrated the establishment of Air China's Taipei Office. Kong Dong, Chairman and GM of Air China, visited Taiwan and hosted the celebration ceremony. A joint performance combining traditional Peking Opera and popular Taiwanese Opera kick started the ceremony, showcasing the innovation and development that resulted from the communication and integration between both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Speaking at the ceremony, Kong Dong expressed that while Air China had only spent 4 months to complete the preparation for the opening of its Taipei office, direct connections across the Taiwan Straits has been the dream of generations of Chinese people for nearly 60 years, who have made great efforts in accomplishing this goal. The regular charter flights directly connecting both sides of the Straits have transformed the natural barrier between mainland China and Taiwan into a freeway, which not only facilitates passengers and cargo owners, but also benefits the airline industries across the Straits. As the old Chinese adage goes, “always keep in mind where the source of your happiness comes from”. As we celebrate this great moment, Kong Dong conveyed his deepest respect and sincerest gratitude for those who have made great efforts and contributions in advancing the cross-Straits exchanges and communications. Over the last few months, be it Spring Festival charter flights, holiday charter flights, or weekend and regular charter flights, Air China has made it a responsibility to meet the needs of our compatriots across the Taiwan Straits and build a bridge to facilitate the communication and exchange of ideas. From July 2008 to February 2009, with the launching of the cross-Straits charter flights on the weekends, Air China has flown 57,900 passengers on 444 charter flights, with an average passenger load factor of approximately 75%. These satisfactory figures not only indicate our success, but also highlight the expectations and aspirations of the Chinese people living on both sides of the Straits for the development of mainland China and Taiwan. Compared to the rest of Air China's routes, the cross-Straits routes hold the leading position in terms of its financial performance. Kong Dong stated that he was confident about the future development and operation of our cross-Straits flights, as is the Air China management team. He believes the airline operators in Taiwan share our beliefs too, because any success achieved is the result of joint efforts from all the insightful people working at both sides of the Straits.

Air China is an airline company that joins excellent traditional values with innovative service concepts. In view of the close relationship and increasing frequent exchanges between both sides of the Straits, Air China is dedicated to providing the most convenient air services and facilitating communication for the people and companies located on both sides of the Straits. During critical periods of communications and exchanges across the Taiwan Straits, Air China has made positive contributions to such exchanges with a public-centered and customer-oriented approach. In addition to recruiting local Taiwanese employees, Air China also plans to sign an agreement with Chiayi County government to sponsor a tea farm in Alishan. Air China will start by offering Gaba tea from Alishan to passengers on cross-Straits flights and gradually introduce the Gaba tea and scenic attractions of Alishan to all Air China flights.

Air China has also sponsored the Sichuan Panda Culture and Tourism Festival. The main objectives include introducing Sichuan’s culture and tourist attractions to the Taiwanese, supporting Sichuan´s post-earthquake reconstruction, and further promote exchanges and communications between both sides of the Straits. Air China has decided to sponsor a Sichuan tourist team with free air tickets and assistance to visit the giant pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan in Taiwan. Air China will also cooperate with Chiayi County by sponsoring local children with trips to the Taipei Zoo to visit the two giant pandas. In addition, Air China will fund outstanding high school students from Chiayi to visit the Sichuan Wolong Nature Reserve to observe the behavior of the giant pandas from a close range.

In December 2007, Air China officially became a member of the Star Alliance. In 2008, as the official airline partner of the 29th Olympic Games, Air China achieved great success and its excellent air transportation services received high commendations from the International Olympic Committee, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee and the passengers. For years, Air China remains a force to be reckoned with and continues to be at the forefront by maintaining its brand value despite stiff competition from other airline companies in mainland China. It is also the industry leader in air passenger and cargo services, and other industry-related services. By the end of October 2008, Air China's fleet consisted of 241 aircrafts, mainly Boeing and Airbus, and offered 250 routes covering 27 countries and regions. The company provides more than 6,000 flights per week, and a passenger seating capacity of 1 million. With Air China’s powerful and well-balanced global airline network that is based in Beijing, passengers can conveniently fly to 83 destinations in mainland China, and 41 international destinations. Air China currently operates 5 air routes to Taiwan, totaling 20 round-trip flights with more than 4,000 seats to passengers from both sides of the Straits.

Representing Chiang Pin-kung, the president of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), Kao Koong-lian who is the secretary-general of SEF stressed that direct flights have brought evident economic benefits and strengthened the communication between parties on both sides since last year. He believes the ease in traveling will improve and facilitate the economic, cultural and industrial exchanges across the Straits in the future. On behalf of Chiayi County government, Zhong Mingshi, Director of Chiayi County Tourism Bureau, exchanged a cooperation agreement with Tan Zhihong, Vice GM of Air China. Both parties presented Gaba tea from Alishan and Koji ceramic and an Air China’s aircraft model with colored panda paintings as gifts to each other to pave the way for excellent cooperation relations in the future.

To celebrate the opening of the Taipei office, Air China had also invited a special guest, Prof. Zhang Jialin from Peking University. Born in Taiwan and an Air China platinum card member, Prof. Zhang extended his sincerest gratitude on behalf of Air China's long-term customers for Air China’s years of thoughtful services in his hometown. From the perspective of a passenger, he expressed his respect to those who advocated and supported the direct flight across the Straits.