Air India has become the latest airline to remove any mention of Taiwan from its website. Instead, all flights to Taipei Taoyuan International Airport have been relabeled “Chinese Taipei” by India’s national airline.
The Indian government-owned airline updated its website as prescribed by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, an airline spokesperson told the Times of India.
An Indian Government spokesperson told CNN that “Air India’s decision to rename the destination of Taiwan as Chinese Taipei is entirely consistent with international norms, and our own position on Taiwan since 1949.”
Air India does not actually operate any flights into or out of Taipei. However, it does sell flights to the city through a codeshare agreement with Taipei-based EVA Air with a stopover in Bangkok, Thailand or Singapore.
In April, China’s Civil Aviation Administration issued a request to 44 international airlines, including US carriers, that all mention of Taiwan as a separate entity be removed from their websites.
“Regarding websites, we object to Beijing dictating how U.S. firms, including airlines, organize their websites for ease of consumer use. Chinese companies’ websites operate freely and without political interference in the United States,” a US State Department official told Business Insider earlier this year.
The White House also issued a response to the Chinese request calling it “Orwellian nonsense.”
Thus far major carriers such as American, United, and Qantas have continued to use to the Taiwan label. While a host of others have chosen to describe Taiwan as Taiwan, China. Some, like Air India, have removed all mention of Taiwan from their websites.
Japan’s duo of ANA and JAL only made the changes to their Chinese language sites.
The Chinese Government originally set May 25 as the deadline for the airlines. However, that has since been extended to July 25.
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