Air tickets for economic cabin seats on chartered flights from Shanghai to Taiwan during the forthcoming Spring Festival have already sold out.

Information from China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines said the two air carriers would operate 16 return chartered flights, with 7,824 seats, from Shanghai to Taiwan from Jan. 20 to Feb. 13.

All the tickets for economic cabin seats were sold out by Tuesday despite an increase of 20 percent in the prices.

Only a limited number of tickets for business cabin seats are left on the above mentioned chartered flights to be operated by the two air carriers, corporate sources said.

The lifting of a restriction on passengers' status to business people last year is a principal cause of the quick sale of the air tickets, industry observers say.

The ticket for an economic cabin seat on a round trip from Shanghai to Taiwan cost 4,000 yuan (493 U.S. dollars) or so, but that for business cabin seat costs over 7,000 yuan (about 863 U.S. dollars).

Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year, is the most important occasion for family reunions. The Spring Festival in 2006 will start on Jan. 29.

Six mainland airlines have been chosen to operate chartered flights across the Taiwan Straits from Jan. 20 to Feb. 13, 2006, while another six Taiwan-based airline companies earlier this month announced their plans for direct chartered flights across the Taiwan Straits during the Spring Festival.

Source: Xinhua