Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) A chartered flight carrying 179 Japanese visitors arrived in Taiwan's Taipei Songshan Airport from Japan's Matsuyama Airport on Saturday evening, marking the resumption of passenger services between the two airports after a hiatus of nearly three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) greeted the visitors on the flight operated by EVA Airways upon their arrival. He was accompanied by Jason Wang (王文傑), chairman of Lion Travel Service Co., which organizes the tour.

The visitors from Japan arrived just in time for the opening of the Taiwan Lantern Festival, a Tourism Bureau event that will officially open in Taipei on Sunday, Chiang said.

The city of Matsuyama has been taking part in the Lantern Festival celebration in Taipei since 2017, and its display to attract visitors from Taiwan is set up at the main site of this year's festival being held in the plaza outside National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, along with displays from several other local governments in Japan, Chiang pointed out.

A tourism official from Japan's Ehime Prefecture who traveled on Saturday's flight to Taipei, meanwhile, welcomed Taiwanese people to visit Japan for the upcoming cherry flower season in the spring.

According to Wang, Lion Travel is planning more chartered flights linking Taiwan and the Japanese prefectures of Kagoshima and Kumamoto, as well as Guam.

Travelers from Japan spent around US$200 a day during their stay in Taiwan, and the travel service is seeking to bank on the resumption of international travel to Taiwan, which had closed its borders to foreign tourists in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Tourism Bureau annual report on foreign visitors to Taiwan in 2019 showed the daily expenditure of Japanese group tourists stood at US$303.12 per person on average, making them the biggest spenders among foreign tourists.

Chartered flights between Songshan and Matsuyama airports, which share the same name in Chinese characters, were first launched in 2013. There were also flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Matsuyama Airport until early 2020.