Taiwan welcomes Bangkok travellers as first unrestricted flight

Taiwan has ended mandatory quarantine and welcomed a plane from Bangkok as the first international flight to land without Covid-19 restrictions. Just after midnight this morning, a flight from Bangkok arrived to fanfare as the first commercial flight where passengers were not required to quarantine on arrival.

Taiwan lagged behind other countries in Asia in loosening restrictions as the Covid pandemic subsides. They required a seven-day quarantine which was reduced to three in June, but have now lifted the mandatory isolation altogether. Taiwan has high vaccination rates and, despite the nearly seven million domestic Covid infections in 2020, the government feels that it is time to return to normal life and do a full reopening.

Incoming passengers on the Bangkok flight were greeted with gifts of black teddy bears to commemorate their arrival at Taoyuan International Airport just outside of Taipei. They exited the flight and were greeted by officials and a media circus, with the Tourism Bureau Director General personally welcoming the guests to Taiwan. Tourists walking off the plane were excited to take photos with the officials and for the media.

While there is no longer any mandatory quarantine, incoming travellers are still required to monitor their health and take rapid Covid tests according to the Bangkok Post. The tests can be self-administered, and travellers are required to track their health for the first week after arrival only.

Taiwan had been a popular tourist destination before the pandemic, famous for bustling cities with delicious food, as well as beautiful natural scenery and even scuba diving. When countries began to reopen for international travel, the people of Taiwan and foreign residents were able to exit and enter, but only with a quarantine at home or even in a hotel that at times lasted up to two weeks.

Now that travel is finally unrestricted, Eva Airways and China Airlines, the two main international airlines of Taiwan, have been quickly restoring flights to nearly pre-pandemic levels. They are increasing capacity on current routes and adding new ones including flights to Da Nang in Vietnam.

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