Cross-Strait air traffic increases 31% in first 5 months

The number of air passengers between Chinese mainland and Taiwan totaled 3.66 million in the first five months of the year, up 31.4 percent from a year earlier, the island's transportation authorities said Thursday.

The total air passenger flow recorded at Taiwan's airports from January to May hit a 10-year high of 18.23 million, up 13.9 percent year on year, the authorities said.

The increases were attributed to new direct flights between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul. The Songshan Airport saw 2.23 million travelers in the first five months, about 12.23 percent of the total.

The number of passengers passing through Taiwan's seaports during the January-May period was 284,000, up 30.5 percent from the same period last year, of which cross-Strait maritime traffic was 78,000, or 27.8 percent of the total.

In the first five months, Taiwan recorded a total of 2.97 million inbound visitors, of whom 66 percent were tourists, as well as a record income of 21.3 billion new Taiwan dollars (713 million U.S. dollars) for the island's hotels and hostels.