By Albert Kuan
China Airlines To Resume Flights to Ontario in June
China Airlines will resume flying to Ontario International Airport in Ontario, Calif. from its Taoyuan, Taiwan hub in June in preparation for the summer travel season. China Airlines flew the daily non-stop flight from Taipei to Ontario using both its Boeing 777-300ER and an Airbus A350-900 WXB long-haul jets before suspending the service in April 2020 due to the global impact of COVID-19. Despite COVID-19 travel restrictions in Taiwan and the U.S., China Airlines continued serving Los Angeles International Airport on a significantly reduced schedule while its Ontario service was indefinitely suspended.
China Airlines operated Ontario flights into March 2020, and Ontario airport officials had defended the continuation of the China Airlines service in February and March.
During the month of June, China Airlines will operate the Ontario service twice in each direction. Flight CI23 from Taipei to Ontario will operate on June 8 and June 22, while flght CI24 from Ontario to Taipei will operate on June 10 and June 24. For travelers needing to travel to Taiwan outside of those dates, China Airlines also operates its Los Angeles International Airport service flying two to three times per week in each direction in June. The airline has not yet released its operations schedule for July onwards.
At the time of writing, the Ontario flights were not able to be booked on the airline’s website, but the airline has already begun informing its Los Angeles frequent flyers of the resumed service and its June operating schedule.
All foreign travelers to Taiwan must still apply for a visa or obtain a special entry permit in order to enter the country. In addition, all nationals and foreigners must provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test result from less than 72 hours prior to the departure of their flight in order to board. Furthermore, nationals and foreigners arriving from outside Taiwan must fill out the health declaration form and affidavit and undergo 14 days quarantined at home or at a government-designated hotel.
Ontario International Airport is seeing the quickest recovery amongst California airports since the onset of COVID-19. As the recovery of U.S. domestic services continues, multiple airlines have also restarted or initiated flights from the Inland Empire airport
Although Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris temporarily suspended a vast majority of its service to the U.S. in April as well, it resumed flying to Ontario from Guadalajara in August. Shortly after the resumption in November, the airline added non-stop service to the airport from its Mexico City hub. In December, Hawaiian Airlines launched a non-stop service between Ontario and Honolulu. In addition to China Airlines’ resumed service to Taiwan this summer, Ontario will also have its first Avianca service flying to El Salvador in July.
Albert recently completed his undergraduate studies in Business Accounting at USC in Los Angeles and he is currently recruiting for a corporate analyst position at one of the U.S. legacy carriers. During his college years, he interned at LAX for Los Angeles World Airports working behind-the-scenes (and on the ramp) in public relations and accounting. Outside of writing for AirlineGeeks, he enjoys trekking the Hollywood hills, visiting new hotspots throughout SoCal, and doing the occasional weekender on Spirit Airlines.