TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei and the Japanese city of Matsuyama are set to restart charter flights in February 2023 after disruption due to COVID-19.
Taipei Songshan Airport and Matsuyama Airport in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture in southern Japan, have operated charter flights since 2013. Bilateral ties started because Matsuyama is translated as "Songshan" in Mandarin.
With Taiwan and Japan easing border restrictions, the service will resume in February. Regular flights between Matsuyama and Taoyuan, launched in 2019, are also expected to resume soon amid revived bilateral tourism, according to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA).
The relations between Taipei and Matsuyama began in 2009. The Japanese city has participated in Taipei’s hot spring and other cultural events since 2010, recreating iconic scenes of its festivals featuring the bearing of sacred religious palanquins, or portable Shinto shrines.
CAA Director-General Lin Kuo-hsian (林國顯) on Wednesday (Dec. 21) expressed his gratitude to Ehime Prefecture Governor Tokihiro Nakamura for pushing exchanges between the two countries, from tourism, and transportation, to the cycling business.
A religious event in Taipei featuring Matsuyama's portable shrines:
