1st weekend chartered flight with mainland tourists arrives in Taiwan

Source: Xinhua | 07-04-2008 09:06

TAIPEI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The first cross-Strait weekend chartered flight from China's mainland to Taiwan landed at Taipei Taoyuan airport early Friday morning.

The first passenger to step out the plane from the first  group of mainland tourists of the day to arrive in Taiwan  from Guangzhou, is surrounded by reporters at the Taoyuan  International Airport July 4, 2008. Historic flights between  the island and the mainland began taking off on Friday,  ushering in the first wave of what could become millions  of mainland visitors to the island as cross-Straits relations  warm. [Agencies]

The historic flight, which took off at 6:31 a.m. from Guangzhou, capital city of China's southern Guangdong Province, arrived at about 8:10 a.m. after a 1,124-km journey.

More than 100 mainland tourists aboard the Airbus A330 of China Southern Airlines (CSA) became the first group of people on a sight-seeing tour allowed to Taiwan amid warming cross-Strait ties.

There were 258 passengers in the flight.