Flights to nowhere give homebound Taiwanese a taste of travel

Starlux and other airlines respond to locals' hunger for international trips

Taiwanese carrier Starlux has teamed up with Hong Kong-based travel startup Klook to offer flights that start and end at the same airport. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

ERI SUGIURA, LAULY LI and CHENG TING-FANG, Nikkei staff writers

August 7, 2020 14:59 JST

TAIPEI/TOKYO -- Taoyuan International Airport has been rather empty since the coronavirus pandemic shut the door on overseas travel, so it was a rare sight on Friday morning when nearly 200 passengers lined up to board a flight. The only catch: they weren't actually going anywhere.