TAIWAN: China Airlines Strike Leaves 20,000 Without Flights

A strike by staff from Taiwan’s largest carrier China Airlines left 20,000 passengers without flights Friday in the first industrial action by cabin crew in the island’s aviation history.

The airline was forced to cancel all flights out of the two main airports in the capital Taipei, with the only exception a chartered service for President Tsai Ing-wen who left for a state visit to Panama and Paraguay Friday morning.

Crowds of passengers queued up at CAL counters in Taipei’s Songshan and Taoyuan airports as the airline tried to get them onto different flights.

Hundreds of flight attendants staged a sit-in outside the firm’s headquarters in Taipei overnight, protesting a new requirement that they report for work in Taoyuan on the outskirts of Taipei rather than downtown Songshan airport.

They say the measure was brought in unilaterally.

It pressures us to work even more overtime and will seriously affect flight safety,” the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union said in a statement on its Facebook page.

The union is also calling for other improvements to conditions, including double pay for working on national holidays.

The official strike started at midnight. Protesters continued to sit-in outside the CAL office Friday.

Both the president and the chairman of CAL were replaced on Thursday after tendering their resignations before the strike.

Ho Nuan-hsuan, who was officially approved by the board to be the new chairman Friday, made an immediate concession, agreeing to reverse the unpopular decision over where flight attendants should report to work.

“I promise to come up with a satisfactory response (to protesters’ demands). Hopefully through the good will of the company, we can work together,” Ho told the strikers.

But the gesture failed to put an end to the sit-in in hot and humid Taipei, as protesters insisted that six other demands also be met.

“No outcome, no end to protest!” The protesters shouted.

A new round of negotiations will start at 4:00 pm (0800 GMT).

Ho was appointed by the transport ministry, which is CAL’s largest shareholder.

In a statement Friday, CAL urged the government to intervene to bring the strike to a “smooth end”.

It described the strike as an “unauthorised surprise attack” on the airline.

Tsai gave her thanks to the flight attendants during a short speech before her departure and vowed the government would defend their labour rights.

CAL’s vice president said Friday it was trying to get passengers onto other flights but that it was difficult in peak summer season.

Flights from the southern cities of Kaohsiung and Tainan were unaffected Friday.

TAIWAN: 26 China Tourists Killed In Taiwan Bus Fire

A Taiwan bus taking mainland Chinese tourists to the airport for their flight home caught fire and crashed Tuesday, killing all 26 on board as desperate passengers struggled in vain to escape.

The disaster was the latest in a series that have called into question Taiwan's safety record.

The bus, with flames shooting from the front, had rammed into an expressway barrier near Taipei.

The images showed thick plumes of smoke and burned-out wreckage at the roadside.

A police spokesman said the bus had caught fire before it crashed into the barrier but gave no reason.

"All the people on the bus died," Lin Kuan-cheng, spokesman for the National Fire Agency,said.

"At this stage it is still not clear why no passengers escaped from the bus."

The bodies of the victims remained inside the bus as police and prosecutors examined the site.

One image in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper showed two men trying to smash the windows with fire extinguishers as the doors of the vehicle remained shut.

The Liberty Times newspaper quoted an unnamed eyewitness as saying passengers were pounding the bus windows for help as the driver swerved sharply before the crash.

A firefighter at the scene said there were no survivors still calling for help when they arrived.

The tour group of 24 people, three children, 15 women and six men was from China's northeastern city of Dalian, Taiwan's interior ministry said.

A Taiwanese driver and Taiwanese tour guide were also killed, the National Fire Agency confirmed.

The group were on their way to Taipei's main Taoyuan airport for a 4:30 pm flight back to Dalian after an eight-day tour of the island. The accident happened shortly before 1:00 pm.

- String of accidents -Chinese tour groups have increasingly visited Taiwan in recent years after a boom in mainland tourism.

Flyers Choose World’s Best, Worst Airports

The best airports in the world are found in Asia, while the worst are located mostly in the developing world. And Paris.

Those are the overall conclusions from the 2015 edition of Sleeping In Airports’ best and worst airports lists, as voted by globetrotters around the world.

On the list of the world’s top airports are the usual suspects, with the perennial favourite, Singapore’s Changi Airport taking the top spot, followed by Incheon airport in Seoul, and Tokyo Haneda in Japan.

In fact, the top five airports listed all hail from Asia, with Taipei and Hong Kong also represented and Kuala Lumpur the other Asian airport at No. 9. European hubs round out the top 10 list.

The only North American airport to crack the list is Vancouver International Airport.

Meanwhile, the other end of the list represents a major departure from the world’s most luxurious airports.

There are no indoor jungles, aquariums, IMAX theatres, spas and luxury boutiques at Port Harcourt International Airport in Nigeria, for example, which nabbed the dubious title of world’s worst airport.

Travellers arriving or transiting through the Nigerian hub are warned to expect virtually no seating for resting their feet, no air-conditioning to cool them down in the stifling heat, and a tent that doubles as the arrivals hall.

While the list of the top 10 worst airports is largely filled with no surprises – most are from developing countries including Nepal, Uzbekistan, Haiti and Afghanistan – there is one conspicuous hub that may seem out of place at first glance.

But according to flyers, the amenities and staff at Paris Beauvais-Tille Airport are bad enough to crack the top 10 list.

“Located in what is plausibly a sparsely furnished converted factory with pre-fabricated ‘temporary’ 10-year-old extensions, BVA was voted this year to be the worst airport in Europe,” reads an explanation on the Sleeping In Airports site.

“Grievances from voters are detailed and far-reaching, but generally revolve around the absence of chairs, kind staff, sufficient toilets and hygienic standards.”

Top 10 airports:

1. Singapore Changi International Airport, Singapore (SIN)
2. Seoul Incheon International Airport, South Korea (ICN)
3. Tokyo Haneda International Airport, Japan (HND)
4. Taipei Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan (TPE)
5. Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong (HKG)
6. Munich International Airport, Germany (MUC)
7. Helsinki Airport, Finland (HEL)
8. Vancouver International Airport, Canada (YVR)
9. Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia (KUL)
10. Zurich Kloten International Airport, Switzerland (ZRH)

Top 10 worst airports in the world:

1. Port Harcourt International Airport, Nigeria (PHC)
2. Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport, Saudi Arabia (JED)
3. Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport, Nepal (KTM)
4. Tashkent International Airport, Uzbekistan (TAS)
5. Caracas Simon Bolivar International Airport, Venezuela (CCS)
6. Port au Prince Toussaint Louverture International Airport, Haiti (PAP)
7. Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan (KBL)
8. Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Vietnam (SGN)
9. Islamabad Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Pakistan (ISB)
10. Paris Beauvais-Tille International Airport outside Paris, France (BVA)