Chinese airlines to launch China-Taiwan-overseas tour

Jul 8, 2008, 1:27 GMT

Taipei - Chinese travel agencies and airlines plan to launch China-Taiwan-overseas tours to allow Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan and some foreign countries on the same trip, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

The Liberty Times said that some Chinese travel agencies and airlines are consulting their Taiwan counterparts about the possibility of launching China-Taiwan-overseas tours for Chinese citizens.

The paper said that because Taiwan and China launched weekend charter flights this month, some Chinese travel services and airlines plan to send Chinese tour groups to Taiwan on the charter flight for a short stay before sending them on to one or more other destinations.

When the Chinese tour groups have completed sightseeing abroad, they can return to Taiwan for one or two days before returning to China, also on charter flight.

Chinese airlines hope that Taiwan eventually will allow them to extend their flights to Taiwan to a third country.

The Liberty Times warned that if Chinese airlines extend their flights from Taiwan to a foreign country, they will steal passengers away from Taiwan airlines.

Three Chinese airlines - Air China, China Southern and China Eastern airlines - have taken the lead to negotiating with Taiwan travel services and airlines regarding China-Taiwan-overseas trips, the Liberty Times said. Among them, Air China is already promoting its China-Taiwan-US package tour.