By Xinhua
Beijing : For the first time, China and Taiwan will launch cross-Strait charter flights for the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on June 19 this year.
Five mainland airlines including Air China, and six Taiwan companies including China Airlines will undertake 21 round-trip flights from June 15 to June 22, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Monday.
The destinations are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen on the mainland, and Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan, according to the CAAC. Shanghai terminal will be the busiest with 14 round-trip flights.
In June 2006, the mainland and Taiwan agreed to open charter flights for traditional festivals, including Qingming or Tomb-sweeping Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, is said to be in memory of a patriotic Chinese poet who drowned over 2,000 years ago.