Taiwanese airline EVA Air has organised a special Macau-London chartered flight via Taipei departing on August 26, Macau News Agency has learned.
According to New Sintra Tours Ltd, a local travel agency connected to gaming company STDM, a special flight was arranged as a way for local students studying in the UK to be able to reach the country.
Local students were given priority in purchasing seats in the flight and represent the majority of the passengers but non-student passengers were also allowed.
Economic seats for the flight have already been sold-out, at MOP13,000 (US$1,628) per ticket.
The chartered flight will depart at 8:00am of August 26 and arrive in Taoyuan Taipei at 9:45am, to then depart Taipei at 11:30am to London.
As reported previously by Macau News Agency (MNA), currently Taiwan and South Korea are the only viable options for local passengers needing to travel outside of Asia, due to pandemic related restrictions in other destinations with flight connections available.
One of the only options available at the moment includes the Taoyuan airport in Taipei, with current regulations in the island allowing passengers to transit through the airport for a connecting flight within eight hours operated by the same carrier group.
This makes EVA Air the only option, as the Taiwanese carrier operates flights from Macau to Taipei, and provides options to several destinations in Europe and North America.
EVA Air currently operates three weekly Macau-Taipei flights on Sundays, Mondays and Fridays, departing at 1:15pm and arriving at 3:00pm.
Yesterday, local authorities also indicated that an increase in the number of flights and connecting flights available to people in the city – mainly local students enrolled abroad – needing to reach European countries and the United States is expected from the end of August, with travel agencies negotiating with airlines for future flights to be organised.
According to New Sintra Tours Ltd no other EVA chartered flight is planned for August, but another could take place in September.
MNA inquired EVA if it has plans to increase the number of available flights or if it would organise more chartered flights but no response had been provided when this article was published.
