Southern Airlines, one of the Chinese mainland operators of cross-straits chartered flights during the traditional New Year Spring Festival holidays, announced a preferential package Friday, offering passengers free trip between their departure city in the mainland and Guangzhou, one of the starting points of the special chartered flights to Taipei.

Under the package, the company promises to give a free trip to Taiwan passengers who fly to Guangzhou from their destination city, while they only need to pay for the flight between Guangzhou and Taipei, said Si Xianmin, general manager of the Southern Airlines.

A one-way ticket for the Guangzhou-Taipei flight costs 800 yuan (approximately 96 US dollars). Round-trip tickets range from 1,380 yuan (about 166 US dollars) to 2,980 yuan (some 359 US dollars), the airline said.

Tickets will be available both in Taipei and Guangzhou. The first flight, on January 29, will be in a Boeing 777, with Deputy General Manager Hao Jianhua as the captain.

Southern Airlines is one of the three largest in China's mainland.