China has prepared round-trip charter flights between Taiwan and mainland cities over the coming traditional Spring Festival, which falls on January 22, said a civil aviation official on December 31.

But the decision to finally approve the flights rested on Taiwan's agreement to direct charter flights across the Taiwan Strait during the 2004 Spring Festival, said Pu Zhaozhou, a Civil Aviation Administration of China official in charge of Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong affairs.

Pu noted that the mainland would allow one-way and non-stop flights from Taipei and Kaohsiung cities to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen.

The charter flights would make it much easier for Taiwan business people to go home for the Spring Festival, the most important holiday for the Chinese people.

Pu said he hoped that Taiwan authorities would take effective, substantial measures to allow as soon as possible Taiwan airlines to communicate and consult on specific technical and operational details with their mainland counterparts.

Deliberate delays by Taiwan authorities had caused many problems with charter flights, said Pu, claiming that the mainland had increased flights to Taiwan via Hong Kong and Macao.

Statistics showed that flights across the strait could currently cater for 190,000 passengers per week, Pu acknowledged. And the Chinese mainland had prepared 305 flights with approximately 30,000 seats to Taiwan over the Spring Festival holiday.

"We hope that Taiwanese authorities will cooperate with the mainland and respond accordingly and promptly," Pu said.