Taiwan and Australia have announced an update to their Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA), liberalising air travel between the two islands. The revised Air Services Annex, announced December 15 and effective immediately, allows for unrestricted capacity. The previous agreement, signed in 2006, was capped at 6,000 seats per week.

The move is part of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, which is actively pursuing cooperation with Southeast Asian countries and Australia/New Zealand. The policy is aimed at reducing Taiwan’s dependence on mainland China.

Visitors to Australia from Taiwan are on the rise. Numbers from Tourism Research Australia show an increase from 117,000 to year-end September 2015 up to 148,000 for the same period in 2016. For its part, Taiwan has welcomed more than 70,000 Australian and New Zealand visitors in 2016. Currently, China Airlines (CI, Taipei Taoyuan) flies Taipei Taoyuan to Brisbane International with a capacity of 1500 passengers, Melbourne Tullamarine (920 passengers), and Sydney Kingsford Smith (2150 passengers), while EVA Air (BR, Taipei Taoyuan) flies Taipei to Brisbane (1260 passengers).

The announcement of liberalisation between Australia and Taiwan comes just a week after Australia and China reached a similar agreement to further relax the terms of their BASA.