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The first Mid-Autumn Festival charter flight from Taiwan arrived in Shanghai on Friday, marking another step towards establishing regular cross-Straits air links.

The charter flight of Taiwan-based Eva Airways arrived in Shanghai on Friday afternoon with 308 passengers on board. The flight returned to Taipei later on Friday.

The flight signalled the extension of the cross-Straits charter flight service, which used to be restricted to the Spring Festival.

Eva Airways has prepared moon-cakes and other traditional Mid-Autumn Festival refreshments for passengers, said Liu Yingjun, the airline's public relations officer.

Eva Airways had scheduled another round-trip charter flight between Taipei and Shanghai on October 8, Liu added.

Together with Eva Airways, 11 other airlines from the mainland and Taiwan will run a total of 24 round-trip charter flights until October 13.

The flights will run from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou on the mainland to Taipei and Kaohsiung in Taiwan Province.

The charter services are in line with a landmark agreement reached between Taiwan and the mainland, which also allows similar flights for other traditional Chinese holidays including the Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Spring Festival.

The two sides exchanged non-stop charter flights for the first time in more than 50 years during the Spring Festival in 2005.

In 2005, 5,877 passengers took Spring Festival charter flights, while the number soared to 27,276 this year.

By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)

首架中秋两岸包机于本周五抵达台湾，标志着两岸通航关系又向前迈进了一步。

台湾伊娃航空公司的一架包机共搭乘308名乘客，于周五下午抵达上海，之后又于当天飞回台北。

两岸包机原本只限于春节，此次中秋包机标志着两岸节日包机服务范围的进一步扩大。

伊娃航空公司公共关系部经理刘英军说，伊娃航空公司为乘客们准备了月饼和其他一些传统中秋点心。

刘经理说，伊娃航空将在10月8日再飞一个从台北至上海的往返航班。

除伊娃航空外，截止至10月13日，两岸还将有11家航空公司执飞往返包机共24架次。

这些包机航班将从北京、上海和广州飞往台北和高雄市。

两岸节日包机服务符合两岸达成的重要协议精神，主要在中秋节、清明节、端午节和春节等我国传统节日期间提供包机服务。

2005年春节，两岸50年来首次实现直飞包机。

2005年，共有5877位乘客搭乘两岸春节包机，今年这个数字增加到27276人。

cross-Straits charter flight service : 两岸包机服务

round trip :往返旅行