Review of cross-strait charter flight-Challenge and opportunities

With a closer traffic connection across Taiwan Strait, more and more air and ship lines provide cross-strait direct services. In addition, more and more people in Taiwan set up factories and own properties in mainland China, especially in Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. Meanwhile, thousands of mainland Chinese residents travel to Taiwan every week. In near future, they can also take cruise ship as a part of tour. This is due to the pact of promoting closer economic relationship, also known as three links, between mainland China and Taiwan in mid 2008, including trade, transport and post.

A lot of people doubted that the pact will reduce the trade volume, or even economy in Hong Kong SAR, Guangdong Province and Macau SAR because of faster transport modes, lower costs and closer cultural ties, especially between Fujian and Taiwan. For example, flight time between Shanghai to Taoyuan, near Taipei, is reduced from 5 hours to about one and a half hours. Besides, the voyage time on routes from Shanghai or Xiamen to Keelung also reduces for over a half.

Since more than 3 million passengers travelled from Taiwan to mainland China via Hong Kong per year between 2001 and 2008, and half of the passengers did not actually enter Hong Kong SAR, thus many operators in travel industry viewed the pact is a challenge of the region. However, the pact will bring more adverse impact to Macau SAR to other regions. It is because 1.5 million or 80% of total Taiwan-Macau flight passengers headed for mainland China and only 8 million passenger trips take flights or transit in Macau International Airport.

Worse still, the furthest cargo ship destination from Macau is Taiwan and the goods transport in Macau SAR mainly relied on cities adjacent to the Pearl River. Thus direct ship lines between mainland China to Taiwan means a major blow to cargo transport industry in Macau and the region will have heavier dependence upon gaming and tourism industries.

In fact, there are various international flights are available in Hong Kong, and the potential growth of economy in Taiwan, Southeast Asia and India, the demand of international flights to Taiwan will increase in the foreseeable future. In addition, goods delivered between mainland China and Taiwan by air and transferred in Hong Kong International Airport was below 10% of total goods volume in the past decade.

Therefore, tourism sector in Hong Kong should start more intensive promotion in mainland China and Taiwan to attract their residents visit to Hong Kong. They can also suggest tours combining attractions in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. At the other point, after scandals of abandoning and cheating mainland Chinese tourists, a large part of mainland Chinese citizens do not like to travel and shop in Hong Kong. To make tourists feel secured during their journeys, the tour agents and guides must emphasize their ethics. Airlines should enhance international lines, especially from Hong Kong to Southeast Asia, Indian subcontinent and Europe. In addition, Macau should develop itself as low-cost carrier hub in order to accommodate budget flights or lines with fewer passengers but with potential growth. Also, reducing fares is important to attract more passengers and carriers. That can compensate the loss in both regions due to three links.

 

The original text was distributed on 5:29pm, 25 May, 2009.