Taiwan's largest carrier China Airlines (CAL) announced Thursday that it will add three more mainland China cities -- Wuxi, Sanya, and Yancheng -- to its schedule, starting at the end of August.
All three flights will operate out of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the north of the country, the airline said.
The mainland's China Eastern Airlines (CEA) will serve on the Wuxi City route in a collaborative arrangement with CAL, according to the Taiwan airline.
From Aug. 29, eight CEA flights per week will operate between Wuxi City and Taoyuan, with ticket prices starting at NT$8,200 (US$ 281) for a 14-day round trip, CAL said.
Wuxi, a modern industrial city and an important transportation hub in Jiangsu Province in eastern China, is also known as "little Shanghai" because of its booming economy and proximity to the major city. Wuxi is bounded by the Yangtzi River to the north and Lake Tai to the south.
On the Sanya route, CAL will offer two flights per week -- on Tuesday and Saturday -- starting Sep. 6. It will use its Boeing 737-800 aircraft that have eight seats in business class and 150 seats in economy. Ticket prices will start at NT$9,800 (US$336) for a 14-day round trip, it said.
Sanya City, the southernmost city in China in Hainan Province, is also called the "Hawaii of the East." It is a major trade and transportation hub in southern China.
CAL said that starting Sep. 7, it will use its subsidiary Mandarin Airlines on the route between Taoyuan and Yancheng, a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province that has extensive wetlands and nature reserves.
The aircraft used will be also be Boeing 737-800 carriers, and ticket prices will begin at NT$9,700 (US$333), CAL said.
CAL had announced earlier in the month that it would a launch new direct flight Sep. 9 from Kaohsiung to Beijing, departing from the southern Taiwan city every Friday night and returning the next day. Round trip ticket prices on the route are expected to start at NT$10,100 (US$346), according to the airline.