Interior view of Taoyuan Airport. Data picture
The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council announced on the 5th that the mainland plans to pilot the opening of transit services for mainland residents through Taoyuan Airport in Taiwan. Kunming, Chongqing and Nanchang are the first pilot cities.
Open mainland residents after transferring through Taoyuan Airport in Taiwan, residents departing from Nanchang, Kunming and Chongqing can carry passports, joint tickets and boarding passes to the third place, and cannot transfer from the airport via Taoyuan Airport in Taiwan.
What are the benefits of this move for Kunming people to travel to Taiwan? In this regard, industry insiders said that this move has promoted passengers' air transportation, but it has little impact on our trip to Taiwan.
transfer no longer requires a "Taiwan Certificate"
A senior businessman in Kunming who is engaged in traveling to Taiwan said: "In the past, mainland residents who depart from the mainland through Taiwan to a third place outside Hong Kong and Macao must hold a "Taiwan Certificate" (i.e., the "Taiwan Regional Transfer Pass") to transfer to Taiwan. Now it does not need to be processed, which is indeed much more convenient."
The person introduced that the "Taiwan Certificate" needs to be applied for by a travel agency with qualifications to operate Taiwan's tourism business for tourists. In order to ensure the tourism quality of mainland residents, the Taiwan tourism department currently limits the number of tourists entering Taiwan every day, which has also caused tourists from all over the country to compete for limited "Taiwan Entry Certificate" quotas.
These quotas are applied by qualified travel agencies across the country. After the tourists' information is fully prepared, the travel agencies will enter the computer system of the Taiwan Immigration Agency, and then wait in line for the quota. Generally speaking, the preliminary review of the materials is completed within 1-2 working days after submitting the materials, and the quota is seized immediately. The certificate will be issued within 4 working days after the quota occupied.
Currently, the number of Taiwan Immigration Agency issued 7,300 Taiwan licenses every working day, which means there are 7,300 quotas per working day. According to the quota usage instructions for the Taiwan Free Travel website, when the number of applications on that day exceeds one day's quota, the application will be classified into the quota for the next working day in sequence. Only when the quota is scheduled to be placed, the cases submitted for trial will be tried, passed, or supplemented, or returned. If the review is passed, the hosting travel agency can pay the fees and issue a certificate two working days after the quota date. The "Taiwan Free Travel" website updated every 10 minutes on the "Taiwan Free Travel" website shows that as of 14:30 on January 10, the quota for Taiwan's free travel has been occupied until January 14.
The person said that in actual operation, he had encountered cases such as a customer who took more than two months to obtain a "enter Taiwan license". Therefore, it is indeed good news that it is planned to pilot the opening of the transit business of mainland residents through Taoyuan Airport in Taiwan, and no longer need to apply for a "entry permit" for the "Taiwanese".
"cannot leave the airport" makes the attraction discount
However, the person also bluntly said: "The 'transfer but cannot leave the airport' regulations, for mainland tourists, the attraction is not too sufficient compared to other cities that can be transferred." The inability to transit from
means that mainland tourists can only move and consume in Taoyuan Airport for a few hours of transit.
Currently, mainland passengers are transited through Taiwan and mainly travel to North America. According to a statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce last year, 60% of the 1.82 million mainland passengers entering the United States in 2014 were transited through Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo and other places. On the one hand, it is because South Korean and Japanese airlines have a relatively complete route network. At the same time, in order to attract mainland transit passengers, Japan and South Korea have also introduced convenient transit visa-free policies, diverting a large number of transit passengers.
Take South Korea as an example. People who hold valid entry visas from the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, or those who travel to these countries through South Korea, or those who travel to China or third countries through South Korea; Chinese people who hold valid entry visas from any of the 30 European countries such as Denmark and Germany, or who return to China through South Korea through South Korea, can stay in South Korea without visa for no more than 30 days. At the same time, Chinese citizens who transfer to a third country or region at Incheon International Airport in South Korea can be allowed to enter the country without a visa and stay in the capital area for 48 hours.
Therefore, many mainland passengers choose to transfer from Incheon International Airport and use the transfer time to travel to Seoul without visa.
"From our current actual operations, mainland tourists mainly transfer from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and cities such as Tokyo and Seoul to North America. Asia's aviation hubs are very concentrated and the competition is very fierce. Compared with the convenience of mainland tourists to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and the transit visa-free entry policy of Seoul and Tokyo, the pilot opening of the transit business through Taiwan's Taoyuan Airport will probably be difficult to attract mainland residents to transfer to Taiwan." The person said.
However, the person also said that the opening of the transit business is expected to promote the increase in the number of flights through Taoyuan Airport in the three pilot cities.
Taiwan Airlines' two leading players China Airlines and EVA Airlines have expressed their "optimism" recently, believing that the implementation of the policy can greatly enhance the competitiveness of Taiwanese aviation operators. After the pilot cities are opened, China Airlines will be able to transport mainland passengers through Taiwan to North America, Southeast Asia and Australia. With the new fleet of 777-300ER and A350 delivered one after another, it is expected to increase the traffic volume of European, American and Australian routes and strengthen the efficiency of mainland passenger transit. Reporter Li Sifan reported that
link
. Transit transit can be free of visa
. UAE: Stay for 96 hours with a transit visa
from a certain country/region through Dubai International Airport to a third country/region, pay a Dh170 transit visa fee, and can stay for 96 hours with a transit visa.
Singapore: 96-hour visa-free
Chinese citizens who transit at Singapore Changi Airport, such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland, and the remaining validity period is greater than 1 month and have a visa and residence permit for departure within 96 hours, can enjoy the Singapore 96-hour visa-free franchise (VFTF).
South Korea: Visa-free for up to 30 days
South Korea Incheon Airport can have a visa for up to 30 days, subject to the requirement that you must hold an entry visa for five countries in the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and any of the 30 European countries.
Japan: 72-hour visa-free transit
Anyone who holds a valid visa from the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and one of the countries in the European Schengen Convention and the plane transfers within 72 hours, can apply for a 72-hour visa-free transit at Tokyo Narita Airport Customs.
UK: 24-hour visa-free
holds a long-term D visa for the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Schengen, and Chinese tourists who leave the country and go to their destinations, or travel from other countries to these countries can apply for a 24-hour visa-free transit in the UK.
Hong Kong and Macao: You can stay for 7 days
Mainland Chinese travelers can stay in Hong Kong or Macao with a passport, a valid entry visa to the destination, and a booked valid air ticket. They can transit from any country through Hong Kong or Macao to a third country (including Taiwan, but must hold a travel pass to and from Taiwan). They can stay in Hong Kong or Macao for 7 days.
Tips
Cleverly use "international flight transfer" to travel
Kunming native Ms. Hao not only saved transportation costs by rationally making use of international flight transfers, but also traveled to many international popular transit countries and regions.
Ms. Hao said that on many international popular routes, transit tickets can save much more than direct flights. Taking Beijing to New York on January 17 as an example, the economy class ticket price for flights from Air China to New York is 13,942 yuan; while United Airlines stops flights from Hong Kong to New York, the economy class ticket price is only 6,214 yuan.
"Although the transit is more time on the road than direct flights, the money saved can be used to travel in cities where the transit is transferred." She said that through international flight transfers, she has already visited popular transit cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul.
is aimed at transit tourists. Airports of these popular transit transit cities will launch various tourism themes and products.
Korea Incheon Airport launches various projects such as Seoul city tourism, temple tourism, Korean drama tourism, traditional cultural experience tourism, etc. for transit tourists.Visitors can consult for free at the travel agency consultation desk in Incheon Airport, and can directly participate in the transfer tour before exit 3 and 4 of Incheon Airport, which is very convenient.
Japan Narita Airport launched the Narita Airport transfer plan last year, including five itineraries: Japanese cultural experience tour, air flight experience tour, Japanese rural field tour, Outlets shopping itinerary and Shopping Mall shopping itinerary. Participants only need to pay transportation and ticket fees. Registration is open from 9 to 12 o'clock every day and register at the airport Transit Program counter.
Singapore Changi Airport provides free transfer guide services. If the transfer time exceeds 6 hours, you can sign up for a free Singapore sightseeing bus tour at the Passenger Consultation Center. The sightseeing time is about 2 hours.
Even if the transit stay is only a few hours, you can still take a good walk in the airports of these popular transit cities.
Ms. Hao said: "There are five theme gardens in Changi International Airport in Singapore, including Cactus Garden, Orchid Garden, Sunflower Garden, Dream Garden and Butterfly Garden, which can be visited for free; at Incheon International Airport in South Korea, you can sweat and skate, and there is also a Korean cultural street, which performs a 'royal trip' activity every day."
In the 2015 ranking of the top ten best airports in the world released by Skytrax, an international authoritative aviation service British consultant evaluation company, Singapore Changi International Airport, South Korea Incheon Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, and Tokyo Haneda Airport in Japan are all on the list. (Kunming Daily reporter Li Sifan)
