When the large carriers CA and EVA Air were boosting their operating revenues with the help of the golden routes to Hong Kong, Macao and Japan, FAT's only popular route was to China via Cheju Island in South Korea, where passengers would transfer to Chinese airlines for the second leg of the flight.
而當華航、長榮兩家大型公司靠著飛港、澳、日本等黃金航線來挹注營收時，遠航手上的熱門航線卻只有台北赴韓國濟州島、再由中國各航空公司中轉大陸這一條線而已。