Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to Germany key figure in boosting bilateral airline links

2022-11-07

Last week, EVA Air launched flights to a new destination in Germany, the southern city of Munich. That means that now two airlines operate direct flights to two cities in the European country. One key figure behind this development was Taiwan’s representative to Germany, Shieh Jhy-wey, who has been working for years to deepen bilateral ties. Last year, at the height of the pandemic, Hsieh signed a bilateral agreement with the country, which has paved the way for even more direct connections in the future.

EVA Air has launched direct flights to Munich. To celebrate, the airline held an event at Germany’s largest city palace, demonstrating the significance of the hard-fought route.

Taiwan’s representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey worked behind the scenes in July last year at the height of the pandemic, signing an airlines services agreement with Germany on behalf of Taiwan.

Shieh Jhy-wey
Representative to Germany
I worked on this agreement since 2016, for four or five years. Of course, there were a lot of issues that arose, which we can’t talk to the public about. Over the course of six years I signed 12 different agreements. This is a guarantee of quality from Taiwan itself to Germany’s officials, and to the German public.

Unlike past agreements signed between private companies, the Taipei-Munich flight route was worked out between government officials from both sides.

In the past, there were only seven passenger flights weekly to Germany, which flew to Frankfurt and were operated by China Airlines. Now, in addition to the four new weekly passenger flights to Munich, the number of weekly cargo flights between the two countries will increase from three to five.

Shieh Jhy-wey
Representative to Germany
This was all pre-planned when we signed the agreement. If there is a nonstop flow of passengers, and the flights don’t meet demand, then we could extend it to one flight daily.

There are 150,000 travelers annually going between Taiwan and Germany. One German tourism operator says there is a chance this number could go up in the future.

Tourism operator
There’s a great opportunity now for southern Germans to fly directly to Taipei, and if they are to come, I would suggest that you will have an increase of 10, 15, 20% per year.

With direct flights between Taiwan and Germany increasing, it is clear that bilateral relations between the two countries are improving.

長榮航空直飛慕尼黑幕後功臣謝志偉曝光

2022-11-07

疫後航空業拼復甦，陸續開新航點，長榮航空3號首航德國慕尼黑，打破過去台德間，只有法蘭克福一個航點的佈局，而能夠拿下這個航權，幕後功臣就是駐德大使謝志偉，他前後花了近五年時間，和德方在去年簽訂台德航空服務協議，才替國籍航空的客貨運，都增加航班量。

長榮航空開航慕尼黑，特別選在德國最大的市內宮殿辦晚宴，會這麼重視，就是因為這條航線得來不易。

台灣駐德大使謝志偉是這次首航的幕後功臣，在疫情嚴峻的2021年7月，代表台灣和德國簽署台德航空服務協議。

[[駐德大使謝志偉]]
“這個約我從2016年我們用了四、五年，當然有很多事情，我們不能對外講。六年我簽了12個約，這個都是台灣自己本身，給德國官方也好、民間也好，一個品質的保證。”

有別以往由民間組織簽訂，這次雙方都派官方代表，敲定增加台德航班容量。

客運從過去只有華航每週飛法蘭克福的7班，增加4班飛慕尼黑由長榮拿下，貨運也從3班增為5班，還包括第5航權，有助於疫後開發新航點。

[[駐德大使謝志偉]]
“簽這個約的時候已經預埋伏筆。如果客源不斷，供不應求，當然可以延到每天一班。”

台德之間每年有15萬人次來往，德國旅遊業者認為，未來可望再增加。

[[慕尼黑旅遊業者]]
“開航後有很好的機會給南德民眾飛到台灣旅遊。到明年德國人到台灣，旅遊比例會提高20%。”

兩國直飛航班增加，也見證台德關係穩定升溫。