Mainland flag carrier Air China opened an office in Taipei on Mar. 16.

Air China Chairman Kong Dong told the opening ceremony that the airline would offer the most convenient service for people and companies on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and help promote cross-strait communications.

With six cross-strait routes, airlines had carried 57,900 passengers on 440 charter flights as of February, according to Kong. The mainland and Taiwan started direct flights on Dec. 15, 2008, ending a 59-year ban on such links.

Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman and secretary-general of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation, said direct flights have benefited people on both sides. He said he hoped to regularize cross-strait direct flights during the next round of talks with the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.

Photograph: Kong Dong (2nd right), chairman of Air China, shakes hands with Kao Koong-lian (2nd left), vice chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation, during the opening ceremony of Air China's Taipei office on Mar. 16, 2009.