Airlines Battle for Weekly Quota of 25,000 邊境鬆綁每週限2.5萬旅客入境 名額搶破頭

The Central Epidemic Command Center recently loosened border restrictions, but capped the weekly number of inbound travelers at 25,000. This resulted in an all-out battle between airlines to secure quotas. 

The international departures terminal at Songshan International Airport is virtually empty, with only a few travelers scattered around in the waiting area. A look at the international departures sign board shows that the only flight departing that day is an 11:30 a.m. flight to Japan's Haneda Airport. Many countries have eliminated border restrictions, but the number of flights hasn't returned to the previous level. Airfare has also become more expensive, dampening the desire for travel.

Resident: “I bought the ticket in March, so it wasn't too bad then. I had to change a flight once in the middle because my first flight was delayed by six hours, so it was a bit more inconvenient.”

Resident: “It took so long to loosen restrictions and I couldn't get the times I wanted, so I decided not to take them.”

Many people are taking a wait and see approach. The Central Epidemic Command Center recently loosened the inbound quarantine requirement to "3+4." However, it capped the weekly number of inbound travelers at 25,000, leading to a battle between airlines for quotas. There are reports that people are stranded in Shanghai because they haven't been able to buy tickets to return to Taiwan and they will need to wait until at least mid-July for flights to return. Some travel agents attributed this to airlines needing to conform to Shanghai's disease prevention policies.

Chen Chien-chin, Travel Agent: “China's method is more special, because of their zero COVID policy. For example, some travelers in Shanghai wanted to come back yesterday. However, flights from Shanghai have been successively canceled since the beginning of June. There are virtually no flights from either Pudong International Airport or Hongqiao International Airport. There's only one flight out of Shanghai, which is a China Airlines flight on July 14, but it may be canceled too. You'll be given an advance notice of five to seven days so that you have time to adjust any later flights.”

Travel agents say flights to and from China are primarily carrying business travelers and students. A 737 aircraft only has about 180 seats, and flights aren't daily so people are finding it difficult to get seats regardless of the class. Airlines will release seats if someone cancels.

松山機場國際線大廳一片空蕩蕩，只有零星的旅客在候位區等候，仔細看看國際航班資訊，除了上午11時30分要飛往日本羽田機場外，一整天都沒有其他出境的航班，雖然不少國家陸續解封開國門，但在航班數尚未完全恢復過往水準恐影響行程，加上機票價格高漲，都影響著民眾出國旅遊意願。

民眾說：「我是3月份買（機票）所以好像還好，我有中間換一次班機過，好像第一班就誤點6小時，那時候就是有趕快換票，所以就麻煩一點。」

另名民眾則說：「拖那麼久然後又不是我要的時間，就先不坐吧。」

儘管不少人持觀望態度，但指揮中心鬆綁邊境管制，入境檢疫改為「3＋4」，但每週入境限2.5萬人次，也引爆搶名額大戰，現在更傳出有民眾因買不到機票受困上海飛不回來，最快要7月中才有航班飛回台灣，對此有旅遊業者表示，主要是因為航空公司皆須配合上海的防疫政策。

旅行業者陳健欽說：「中國大陸的方式比較特別，因為他們用清零的關係，像有的旅客昨天要回來，他人是在上海，但是上海航班從6月初開始就一直取消，不管是從上海浦東或虹橋開始飛，幾乎都沒有，那個從上海要飛出來的，只有一班華航在7月14日，搞不好這一班也會取消，5天至7天會提前告訴你，讓你有辦法去解決你的後段航班的問題。」

業者表示，目前往返中國主要客源仍以商務客、留學生為主，而且一架737客機機位就只有180幾個，在沒有天天開航、僧多粥少情況下，就會出現不論是經濟艙、商務艙等都沒得訂的情況，但各航空公司的機位是滾動調整，若有人取消或退票仍會釋出。