Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) has cancelled some international flights after it was found to be hitting its maximum 1,350 flight hours per month limit set by Taiwan’s civil aviation regulator.
On May 18, the airline abruptly cancelled flights from Taipei to Kalibo and Puerto Princessa in the Philippines, and Da Nang in Vietnam.
It then announced that flights from Taipei to destinations such as Tianjin, Taiyuan and Fukushima would also be suspended. In total, 31 flights will be cancelled. Tianjin and Taiyuan are served from Taipei Songshan airport, while Fukushima is served from Taipei Taoyuan airport.
Cirium schedules data shows that FAT flies to eight international destinations from Taipei and Kaoshiung, including Kalibo, Matsuyama and Da Nang, together with six destinations in China, including Haikou, Tianjin and Xiamen.
The airline says that its domestic operations are not affected.
From June, the airline says that it will not be operating Taipei Taoyuan-Kalibo and Taipei Taoyuan-Puerto Princessa flights. Its other flights will operate as usual.
Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) says that when FAT reported its May schedules, it had warned the airline that its schedules would exceed its prescribed number of flight hours, and advised it to tweak its schedules.
The CAA has also asked FAT to submit its June and July schedules for it to review, and warned it would impose penalties on the airline if there was “malicious” concealment of schedules data.
It says that the 1350-flight-hour restriction was already in place for the airline for two years, because of its fleet conditions and maintenance and safety records.
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Source: Cirium Dashboard
