Historic China-Taiwan flight takes off

Liu Shaoyong, chairman of China Southern Airlines Co., piloted a Chinese tourist flight to Taiwan, ending a six-decade ban that deprived the island of visitors from its closest neighbor.
Passengers applauded when the Airbus A330 landed in Taipei at 8:05 a.m. after a flight of about 95 minutes from Guangzhou Baiyun airport in southern China. The role of Liu, 49, a trained commercial pilot and former vice-minister, underscored the trip's significance for the nation and its largest airline.
China and Taiwan agreed in June to start direct flights for tourists for the first time, signaling a rapprochement between governments estranged since their civil war ended in 1949. Allowing visitors from the world's most populous nation may boost Taiwan's economy, forecast to grow at less than half the pace of its larger neighbor this year.
``The road from rapprochement to peace has been a great leap forward,'' Liu said before the flight. ``This is a very exciting moment not just for the Chinese aviation industry and for China Southern, but also for myself as an aviator.''

Liu, wearing a captain's uniform, said he'd be at the controls for both take-off and landing.

Taipei-based China Airlines took off this morning for Shanghai, the first weekly flight for tour groups by a Taiwan carrier to the mainland. Six China-based airlines and five from Taiwan will operate 36 weekly round trips.
``This non-stop flight saves me a lot of time because normally I would travel from early morning for a whole day,'' said Michael Yin, a passenger. Direct flights shave as much as six hours off the journey across the 100-mile (161-kilometer) Taiwan Strait. Until now, the estimated 1 million Taiwanese living in China have changed planes in Hong Kong or Macau.