A map of domestic flights offered at the Taizhou Airport [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]

The Taizhou Airport will launch new direct flights to cities such as Chengdu, Sichuan province and Taiyuan, Shanxi province and increase the number of flights to major domestic cities on March 28 in response to the growing demand for air travel.

For the first time ever, Shandong Airlines will begin operating at the Taizhou Airport. The airline will open flights from Taizhou to Haikou, Hainan province and Yantai, Shandong province.

The Taizhou-Chengdu route is expected to shorten travel time between the two cities to just three hours.

Meanwhile, the city will increase flights to major cities such as Guiyang, Guizhou province and Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

There will be three round-trips between Taizhou and Guangzhou and Guiyang and two round-trips between Taizhou and Beijing, Kunming, Chengdu, and Changsha every day.

After the seasonal flight reshuffle, the Taizhou Airport will house a total of 11 airlines operating 22 flights to 20 cities nationwide.

Airlines have also lowered their ticket prices. 

Passengers traveling from Taizhou to Haikou, Yantai, Jinan, Beijing, Changsha, Chengdu, Zhuhai, or Jinan will receive on average a 70-percent discount, cheaper than some second-class seats on bullet trains.

Official data shows that the Taizhou Airport received 1.086 million passengers and 10,400 metric tons of cargo in 2020, with more than 91 percent of flights departing and arriving on time.

In the ranking of domestic airports, the Taizhou Airport rose from 92nd place in 2019 to 81st place in 2020.