FLIGHT FUROR: A 2015 deal stated that only southbound flights would be permitted on route M503 and the extension routes would not be activated ahead of negotiations

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 05, 2018
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

Beijing should immediately stop all flights on four civil aviation routes that were launched yesterday morning, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, adding that aviation officials across the Taiwan Strait should begin negotiations on the issue as soon as possible.

“China must be held accountable for any serious consequences that would affect the cross-strait relations should it continue to allow the flights to operate,” MAC Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) said at a news conference in Taipei.

The aviation routes are northbound flights on the north-south M503 route, which is very close to the median line of the Taiwan Strait, as well as three east-west extension routes — W121, W122 and W123 — along the southeast coast of China.

China unilaterally created the routes in 2015 on the grounds that they would be used to alleviate flight congestion on its A470 route.    [FULL  STORY]