Mandarin Airlines to launch weekly Kaohsiung-Nangan service

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Mandarin Airlines will launch a weekly service in June between Kaohsiung and Nangan, one of the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands off southeastern China.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the China Airlines subsidiary said it was now selling tickets for the maiden flights on the route on June 6.

The weekly flights will be offered every Friday, departing from Kaohsiung International Airport at 11:15 a.m. and arriving at Nangan Airport at 12:55 p.m., the airline said.

The return flight will depart Nangang 1:40 p.m. and arrive in Kaohsiung at 3:20 p.m.

The new route will build on the daily service Mandarin Airlines already offers to Nangan from Taipei's Songshan Airport, which launched in 2023, the carrier said.

In the statement, the airline noted that Matsu has become a popular destination for Taiwanese tourists, owing to its unique natural environment, local folklore, military history, and its "blue tears" phenomenon.

Matsu's "blue tears" are a form of bioluminescence caused by microorganisms that light the sea up in a fluorescent blue, most commonly between April and June.