(Relaxnews) – Budget airline Scoot is launching its route to Taipei starting September 18, making the Taiwanese city the fifth destination for the Singapore-based carrier following Sydney, Gold Coast, Bangkok and Tianjin.
The service will be offered on a three times a week basis until October 29, when the frequency of flights will increase to daily and continue beyond Taipei to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, subject to regulatory approval, added the airline in a statement.
This announcement makes Scoot the 10th budget carrier to operate in Taiwan. Japan’s budget carrier Peach Aviation is expected to launch flights to Taiwan on October 16.
The increasing number of budget airlines flying to Taiwan is expected to result in a record number of tourist arrivals to the island. This year, the number of tourist arrivals to Taiwan is expected to exceed 7 million, based on statistics from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, reported the Taipei Times daily Monday.
The tourism authority added that a total of 4,776,022 international tourists visited Taiwan between January and August this year, registering a year-on-year increase of 24.76 percent, with mainland Chinese representing the largest group of travelers. UBS estimates that 2.3 million Chinese alone will visit Taiwan this year, up from just 300,000 in 2008, reported the Financial Times in August. This spike in expected numbers is attributed to less stringent visa requirements for the visiting mainland Chinese.
EW