Fei Lai/Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai was on the leading edge among Chinese mainland cities in inaugurating direct flights to and from Taiwan.

A China Eastern Airlines jet took off from Pudong International Airport at 8am yesterday carrying 150 passengers and touched down at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei about 9:40am. The trip took about 80 minutes less than it did in the past, when all flights across the Taiwan Strait had to be routed through an intermediary point such as Hong Kong.