Taitung to launch charter flight services to Malaysia at end of 2025

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Taitung County has set up charter flights to a third Southeast Asian country in the last few months of 2025, this time to and from Malaysia at the end of this year for the New Year holiday, the Taitung County government said Monday.

The charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, will be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia.

The Batik Air charter flight with about 200 seats will first take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then return to Kuala Lumpur the same day with Taiwanese tourists aboard, departing from Taitung at 12:35 p.m.

Another charter flight will bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3, 2026, arriving at 5:30 p.m., and then take the Malaysian visitors back to Kuala Lumpur the same night.

In a statement, Taitung County Magistrate Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) said her team held intensive discussions with travel agencies in Malaysia to plan the charter flight services to boost the visibility of both sides' tourism markets.

Yao said the charter flight services are expected to significantly shorten travel time for tourists in Taitung and Malaysia by providing a transportation option that offers considerable convenience.

Hung Kuo-chin (洪國欽), deputy head of Taitung's Transportation and Tourism Development Department, led a delegation to Malaysia in June to visit tourism representatives there and present the charter flight plan, the county government said.

During his stay, Hung signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association National President Patrick Law (劉偉康) to pave the way for the charter flights, and a long-term cooperation mechanism was established, the county government said.

The charter flight services to Malaysia are part of its efforts to boost international exchanges and give overseas visitors a better understanding of the county's beautiful landscape and diverse cultures, the county government said.

The charter flight services to Malaysia will be the third in a series of such services from Taitung to and from Southeast Asian countries this year, after flights were arranged to and from Thailand and Vietnam.

On Aug. 30, a round trip charter flight will be arranged between Taitung and Ho Chi Minh City, and a similar service between Taitung and Chiang Mai will be available in October, the county government said.