TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Are you planning to have a vacation on Penghu, Kinmen, or Matsu during the four-day 228 Peace Memorial Day holiday in 2019? If so, you should book your flights early.

Booking of flights to and from these three islands of Taiwan opens at 9 a.m. on Dec. 24, Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said in a news release on Friday.

Noting the 228 Peace Memorial Day holiday in 2019 lasts from Feb. 28 through Mar. 3, the CAA said it had taken the day before and the day after the holiday into consideration when mapping out the air transportation plan for the holiday.

Therefore, the plan aims to cope with the air transportation needs during the six-day period from Feb. 27 to Mar. 4, 2019, with the focus on the popular routes to the three offshore islands.

The agency said airlines flying these routes are planning on operating extra flights or using larger aircraft to accommodate a larger-than-usual number of passengers during the 228 holiday.

All the airlines operating the three routes will provide a total of 1,300 flights and 104,096 seats during the six-day period, with the Penghu route providing 636 flights and 47,730 seats, the Kinmen route providing 574 flights and 50,186 seats, and the Matsu route providing 90 flights and 6,180 seats, the CAA said. More extra flights will be provided in case more demands arise, the agency added.

The agency reminded the public that tickets for flights during the peak period, specifically flights leaving Taiwan for the three islands from Feb. 27 to Mar. 1 and flights returning from these islands to Taiwan from Mar. 2 to Mar 4., are only valid for the flight on the date specified on the ticket. Therefore, passengers who need to cancel their tickets for any reason must do so with the carriers before the scheduled take-off time to be eligible to get a refund later.

Besides booking from carriers’ official websites, the public can also purchase flight tickets to and from these offshore islands for the 228 holiday from 7-Eleven’s ibon or FamilyMart’s FamiPort, media reports said.

Taiwan News/(Photo courtesy of George Liao)