China's modified no-fly zone to affect 33 flights
ROC Central News Agency
04/13/2023 05:15 PM
Taipei, April 13 (CNA) China's amended plan to close airspace north of Taiwan for 27 minutes on April 16 between 9:30 a.m. and 9:57 a.m. will affect about 33 flights, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said Thursday.
China, which initially notified Taipei of a three-day no-fly zone to the north of Taiwan from April 16-18, revised the zone's duration after a protest by the MOTC, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
Transportation Minister Wang Kuo-tsai (王國材) claimed Thursday that the impact on flights was significantly reduced after Taiwan urged China to trim the duration of the closing.
Between 9:30 a.m. and 9:57 a.m. on Sunday, flights will have to deviate from their original flight paths and "fly southward" from the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) to Japan's Fukuoka FIR, Wang said.
The affected area is approximately 85 nautical miles off the northeast coast of Taiwan, well within Taipei FIR and the country's air defense identification zone, according to the ministry.
Wang said that a notice to airmen (NOTAM) will be issued at 9 p.m. on Thursday, while a notice will be sent at the same time requesting all merchant ships and fishing boats to bypass the restricted area during that specific period on Sunday morning.
Around 160 flights covering 18 international routes pass through the Taipei FIR each day, Wang said.
During the shortened flight restriction period, approximately 33 of these flights will need to reroute, adding less than one hour of extra travel time, according to Wang.
The announcement of the no-fly zone came on the heels of three days of Chinese military exercises around Taiwan, one of several measures taken by Beijing in response to President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last week.
(By Wang Yang-yu and Evelyn Kao)
Enditem/ASG
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