FINANCIAL LOSSES: Since Beijing’s no-fly restrictions against Palau, the nation has seen a 16 percent decrease in Chinese tourists, a report to the Palauan Congress said
Taipei Times
Date: Jul 19, 2018
By: Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
Eight months after China instructed its travel agencies and airline companies to
Rocks covered with vegetation rise out of the Rock Islands Southern Lagoon in Palau in an undated photograph.
Photo courtesy of AimHit Sports Marketing and Communication Consultants Co
halt flights to Palau, Palau Pacific Airways has announced that it plans to drop its flight path from Koror, Palau, to Hong Kong due to significant financial losses.
Sea Passion Group — owner of Palau Pacific Airways and the Sea Passion Hotel — made the statement to the Palauan Congress in a report last week, the Palauan Island Times reported.
Palau Pacific Airways is the only local airline in Palau.
While Palauan President Tommy Remengesau in November last year said that China’s no-fly restriction against Palau would not hurt Palau’s economy, but would instead offer diversity for its tourism market, things are looking grim from the Pacific island nation, the newspaper said.
China applied the restrictions in an attempt to pressure Palau to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. [FULL STORY]
