A common layover for passengers transferring to places like China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan, you may have not known that Taiwan is an important location in terms of international air travel. With several airports across the country, its own highly-rated airline companies, as well as popular routes to Europe, North American and Australasia, there’s a lot more going on in Taiwanese airspace than you think. Here’s a break down of all you need to know about flying into and out of Taiwan. (Read More: Just Passing Through: 5 Taiwan Urban Layovers)
Taiwan has 5 main airports
For real, our small island nation is still boasting five main airports to get you to where you need to go. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, found about a 45-minute drive west of central Taipei is the country’s main airport and provides flights all over the world, while there is also Taipei Songshan Airport, which offers domestic flights as well as hops across Asia, to destinations such as China and Korea. Taichung Airport offers domestic fights to Hualien and Taiwan’s surrounding islands, as well as international destinations like Macau and Vietnam, where as Tainan Airport in the south has several flights a week to Hong Kong, China and Japan. Finally, Siaogang Airport in Kaohsiung flies domestically, as well as to Thailand, China, Hong Kong and some other popular Asian destinations. (You may also like: Taipei City Layover Tour)
Taiwan has its own airlines
EVA Air, standing for Evergreen Airways, is a five-start airline based out of Taoyuan, flying to more than 40 international destinations. It is ranked as the 15th safest airline in the world, boasting no accidents since commencing operations back in 1991. One of EVA’s focus cities is Bangkok, while the world-renowned airline also offers flights from Taipei directly to Paris and vice versa. (Read more: MyTaiwanTour x Eva Air layover tours)
China Airlines, founded in 1959, is Taiwan’ national carrier. The airline’s most important market is Japan, with more than 180 China Airlines flights leaving Taiwanese airports each week heading for 14 destinations across Japan. They also fly to destinations all across Asia, Europe, North America and Australasia.
The third carrier operating out of Taiwan is STARLUX Airlines, a new comer to the aviation game, having commenced their operations just last month (January 2020). They offer domestic flights, along with international stops in Vietnam and Malaysia. (Routes to Macau are temporarily suspended due to coronavirus issues).
Flying to Taiwan from outside of Asia
To get to Taiwan from Europe, you’re most likely going to need to get a connecting flight. Many airlines stop in places like Bangkok and Hong Kong, but you can get direct flights from places like London (around 13 hours), Paris (12 hrs 40) and Vienna (11 hrs 40), according to Rough Guides.
If you want to come from the US, you can fly direct from New York (16 hrs), LA (14.5 hrs), Seattle (13 hrs) and San Francisco (14 hrs), while if you’re flying from Canada, your best bets are Toronto (15 hrs 40) and Vancouver (12 hrs 50). Most routes from Australia and New Zealand will stop in Hong Kong or Singapore, but you can go direct from Sydney (9 hrs 20) and Brisbane (8 hrs 40). We’d recommend checking Skyscanner for price comparisons and to try and find a cheap deal.
Flying to Taiwan from across Asia
You can fly to Taiwan cheaply, easily and often directly from many places in Asia, with many regular flights leaving the likes of Thailand, Japan and Korea on a daily basis. At the time of writing (February 2020), flights from Mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong will be difficult to come by due to the coronavirus epidemic and travel to Taiwan from these destinations is not recommended.
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Cover Photo by JESHOOTS.COM.
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