TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The surge of COVID-19 infections in China made it unlikely that airlines would add flights between more Chinese airports and Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Thursday (Dec. 22).

Earlier Thursday, the Cabinet announced that direct ferry links between outlying islands and China would resume from Jan. 7 to Feb. 6, but only for residents of Kinmen and Matsu.

MAC Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said Taiwanese business people working in China had asked for flights from Shenzhen in Guangdong Province to Taiwan, but as the COVID pandemic was surging out of control it would make airlines reluctant to consider the proposal.

Currently, 29 flights to Taiwan are leaving each week from Beijing, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Chengdu, and Xiamen, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. China had agreed to give airlines the flexibility to add one-way flights out of Pudong should there be extra demand.

However, Chiu said that Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou recently suddenly canceled more than 800 flights, revealing the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic situation in China. Both countries will observe developments before deciding on expanding cross-strait flights and adding more airports to the program, the minister said.