With the high-speed railway cutting into its passenger load, TransAsia Airways Corp announced on Sep. 26 that it would start offering a 50 percent discount for travel between Taipei and Kaohsiung beginning Sep. 27.

TransAsia's fare of NT$1,090 for the Taipei-Kaohsiung route will be NT$400 lower than fares offered by the bullet train service on the route, company public relations manager Janet So said by telephone.

The new price scheme with six flights per day will be lower than those of other domestic carriers, including Far Eastern Air Transport Corp, Mandarin Airlines and Uni Airways Corp, she said.

Unlike other carriers that only provide online booking discounts or offer discounts to travel agencies, TransAsia said its new fares will be available at all retail channels, as well as at its check-in counters at the airports.

She said the preferential fares will continue through the end of next month.

TransAsia now has less than 20 percent of the market for flights between Taipei and Kaohsiung and has seen its customer figures decrease since the launch of the bullet train.

Taiwan's carriers have introduced other promotional programs this year, but a proposed alliance among four carriers to make plane tickets interchangeable was aborted last month.