Chinese holiday flights scrapped in Taiwan row

China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines have canceled 176 flights amid an escalating dispute between the Chinese and Taiwanese governments.

 

A row between China and Taiwan has heated up, leading to the cancellation of 176 flights between the two.

 

China Eastern and Xiamen Airlines had planned the extra flights over the Lunar New Year holiday.

 

Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration refused to authorise the flights as a result of Chinese airlines flying sensitive new routes in the Taiwan Strait without consulting Taiwan’s government.

 

The airlines have offered full refunds to approximately 25,000 passengers already booked.

 

Taiwan split from the mainland in 1949, but is regarded by Beijing as “an inseparable part” of the People’s Republic. However, the island functions as an independent state that calls itself the Republic of China.