Tourist charter flights will be launched between Chinese mainland's northern city of Taiyuan and Taipei next Monday to meet increasing market demand, local authorities said Saturday.

The mainland-based China Eastern Airlines will operate three such round-trip flights every week, while the Taiwan-based Far Eastern Air Transport will run two such flights every week, a spokesman with the Shanxi Provincial Tourism Bureau said.

"Shanxi boasts lots of places of historic interest, which attract Taiwan people very much. The new air service will help boost the tourism markets in both Shanxi and Taiwan," the spokesman said.

Currently, there are only two regular direct flights operating every week between Shanxi and Taiwan, or the Taiyuan-Taipei flight and Taiyuan-Hualien flight.

"Those are far from meeting the demand of tourists in the province. The plane tickets for Taiwan are always hard to get and the travel to the island always costs very much," said Ma Jun, manager of the Shanxi Huangcheng Xiangfu International Travel Agency.

"The new air service will not only make it easier for people in Shanxi to travel to Taiwan, but also help drop the travel costs," he said.

source:Xinhua,2011-12-03