The final flight, Taiwan's China Airlines Flight CI 585, landed at Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 11:14 pm on Sunday, with 222 passengers on board.

Starting on January 26, with the approval of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, six Taiwan-based airlines ran 16 cross-Straits chartered flights between Taipei, Kaohsiung and Shanghai.

A total of 1,293 Taiwan business people and their families went home for family reunions during Spring Festival on the outbound flights, and 1,261 people returned to Shanghai after the week-long holiday.

This was the first time since 1949 that Taiwanese civil aircraft were allowed to fly to the mainland. The flights assumed significance as they were widely regarded as a prelude to a direct air link across the Taiwan Straits.

However, due to restrictions imposed by the Taiwan authorities, the flights had to make stopovers in Hong Kong or Macao on their way to Shanghai or on return trips, and no airlines from the Chinese mainland were able to take part.

Nonetheless, mainland airlines, especially Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, gave total support to their Taiwanese counterparts, providing first-class ground services and offering all necessary flight data.

Sources at the Shanghai airport said the China Airlines plane was scheduled to leave Shanghai for Taiwan shortly after midnight. It would be carrying no passengers.

(China Daily February 11, 2003)