First direct flights from China to Taiwan in 55 years land

[DoYouEverWonder]

29 January 2005


TAIPEI - The first two direct flights from China to Taiwan since the end of a civil war 55 years ago landed here Saturday, carrying Taiwanese businesspeople home for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Passengers and crew onboard the historic flights were greeted at Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek International Airport by government officials, parliamentarians and business representatives.

China Southern Airlines flight CZ3097 touched down at around 9:30 am (0130 GMT) after leaving the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou at 8:00 am.

Some 280 passengers were onboard the flight, piloted by the airlines’ vice president, Hau Jianhua.

A Xiamen Airlines flight MF881, which also took off from Guangzhou, arrived 15 minutes later with about 190 passengers.

“I am so excited to join this historic moment,” said one of the passengers, Chen Wei-nan, the secretary general of Taiwan’s business association in Dongguan in China’s Guangdong province.

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