CAA reviewing application to suspend Taipei-Hualien flights

Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) on Monday confirmed that it is reviewing an application from Uni Air to suspend its regular Taipei-Hualien route, which, if approved, could deal a potentially fatal blow to Hualien's domestic air services.

The Uni Air application, which was submitted in June, mirrors a formal request made by Mandarin Airlines the same month to suspend its Kaohsiung-Hualien and Taichung-Hualien routes.

The three Uni Air and Mandarin Airlines routes are the only three regularly scheduled inbound and outbound flights currently handled by Hualien Airport. It does not offer service to any international destinations except through occasional charter flights.

In explaining its request, Uni Air said most people traveling between northern Taiwan and Hualien rely on ground transportation, resulting in limited demand for air travel.

By contrast, demand for flights to Taiwan's outlying islands remains high, and a suspension would allow it to make more efficient use of its limited resources by diverting aircraft from the Taipei-Hualien route to services to the outlying islands, the airline said.

CAA data seems to support the economic argument being made by both Uni Air and Mandarin Airlines.

The Taipei-Hualien route, currently operated only by Uni Air, had an average load factor of 24.2 percent from January to June 2026, CAA data showed.

During the same period, Mandarin Airlines' Taichung-Hualien and Kaohsiung-Hualien routes had load factors of 57.5 percent and 42 percent, respectively, according to the CAA.

By comparison, load factors for routes between Taiwan proper and the outlying islands were all above 80 percent, with some reaching 90 percent, while the Taipei-Taitung route had a load factor of more than 70 percent, the data showed.

Mandarin Airlines first raised the possibility of suspending its two Hualien flights in April, citing potential annual losses on the routes of about NT$70 million based on the high fuel prices at the time.

The CAA said Monday it has asked Mandarin Airlines to provide additional information regarding its applications to suspend the Taichung-Hualien and Kaohsiung-Hualien routes.

Under Taiwan's Civil Aviation Act, airlines must file applications with and obtain approval from the CAA before making adjustments to domestic routes.

Hualien pushes back

Amid concerns that Hualien could lose all domestic air services, the Hualien County Tourism Department urged the central government to take the needs of rural areas into account in its overall development planning.

Yu Ming-hsun (余明勲), head of the department, told CNA that the county understood the airlines' business considerations but would work to persuade the central government to prevent the complete loss of air services to Hualien, taking local transportation needs into account.

Hualien has no high-speed rail or freeway access, relying only on a provincial highway and basic rail services to connect with other parts of Taiwan, which, Yu argued, showed that the county needed air transportation services.

Although Hualien is a relatively rural area, it should receive equitable treatment, with transportation being an essential part of local development, Yu said.

He suggested that the central government consider subsidizing loss-making routes with revenue generated from more profitable routes.

Yu also said that the Taipei-Taitung railway journey takes about four hours, prompting local civil servants traveling on business to fly and seek reimbursement for their airfares, which helps support the route's passenger numbers.

By contrast, the journey from Hualien to Taipei takes just over two hours by rail, making trains the preferred choice for civil servants traveling on business.

The sparsely populated Hualien County relies heavily on tourism to support its local economy, but the sector continues to struggle after being hurt badly by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in early April 2024 that devastated the county's top tourist attraction, Taroko Gorge.

The number of visitors to scenic spots in the county totaled 4.23 million in the first six months of 2026, down 27.2 percent from the same period in 2023, the year before the earthquake hit, according to Hualien County statistics.