Taiwan-based China Airlines has been authorized to fly emergency air routes over the Chinese mainland during the war in Iraq, officials sources said Wednesday.
The safer air routes were made available for Taiwan flights to central Asia and Europe in the second day of the Iraq war, according to a senior official with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China.
The administration announced Friday that it welcomed applications from Taiwanese airlines to fly the emergency air routes.
Since the United States and Britain launched the war in Iraq, the related departments on the Chinese mainland had been deeply concerned about the safety of Taiwanese in that country and had offered help. The application of Taiwan's Eva Airways was being considered, said the official.
(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2003)
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