OREANDA-NEWS. May 05, 2011. China Airlines (CAL) inaugurated new Taipei-Osaka-New York services with a special ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the maiden flight at Taoyuan International Airport, Osaka Kansai Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. To celebrate the new service and express gratitude to passengers, CAL gave each passenger traveling between Osaka and New York commemorative “I Love OSA” and “I Love NYC” mugs, reported the press-centre of China Airlines.

While hosting the ribbon-cutting ceremony, China Airlines President H.S. Sun said: “At present, CAL operates seven flights a week between Taipei and Osaka, and this schedule change will bring the total to ten flights a week. CAL is the largest carrier serving Taiwan-Japan routes, and now the number of weekly flights have increased from 85 to 88. CAL is also the main carrier transporting passengers and goods between Taiwan and Osaka. The new TPE-KIX flights not only provide more choices for business and leisure travelers, but also show that CAL is taking action to develop the Japanese market.”

The new service operates three flights per week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays on a Boeing 747-400 equipped with 375 seats, including 61 in Business Class and 314 in Economy Class. Flight CI-020 (TPE-KIX-JFK) departs from the Taoyuan International Airport at 08:00 a.m., arriving at Osaka’s Kansai International Airport (KIX) at 11:20 a.m. It departs from Kansai at 12: 50 p.m. and arrives at New York’s JFK International Airport in New York at 1:00 p.m..  The return flight CI-019 will depart JFK at 2:30 p.m., arrive at Kansai at 6:10 p.m., then depart from Kansai at 7:50 p.m. and arrive at Taoyuan at 9:40 p.m.. The route provides more choices and comfort to passengers traveling between Taiwan, Japan and the United States.

To celebrate the new service, and following the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs' downgrading the travel alert for Japan from "red" to a safe "gray,", China Airlines has launched a ‘’Best Wishes For Japan’’ campaign providing unprecedented 50 percent discounts on selected CAL Dynasty Package tours, including air tickets and accommodations on three-day, two-night packages starting from only TWD 7,150. This special package is available for all nine of CAL's routes to Japan, including Tokyo (Narita and Haneda), Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Miyazaki, Sapporo and Okinawa. CAL invites the people of Taiwan to show their support for Japan by checking this specially discounted package through CAL's website at http://www.china-airlines.com/ or booking through travel agencies.