The Consumers Foundation urged local air carriers Saturday to come up with bolder fare cuts on cross-Taiwan Strait flights amid widespread complaints about the high cost of air travel between Taiwan and China. Foundation Chairman Hsieh Tian-jen said that although Taipei-based China Airlines (CAL) , Trans Asia and EVA Airways have recently announced fare cuts of up to 20 percent on their cross-strait flights, they are only reductions in the face values of the tickets. He reiterated that the price cuts should be reflected in the actual retail price to the customer. According to Hsieh, many China-based Taiwanese businessmen are still dissatisfied that a round-trip Taiwan-Shanghai flight cost over NT$20,000 (US$640) in early April. The price was much higher than that offered by travel agencies late last year, he noted. He prodded the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to intervene in airlines' pricing, saying that they should not be left on their own to set prices in the particularly oligopolistic cross-strait air travel market. At present, only Taiwanese and Chinese carriers can conduct non-stop direct flights across the strait. On April 7, both CAL and Trans Asia announced 20 percent fare cuts on direct cross -strait economy flights from April 16. Trans Asia plies the Taipei- Shanghai and Taichung-Shanghai routes, while CAL offers direct flights from Taoyuan and Kaohsiung to Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. EVA Airways followed suit the next day, announcing reductions ranging between 11 percent and 20 percent on its economy flights from Taiwan to the same four Chinese cities. Sources familiar with the business, however, contended that the price cuts were more a symbolic gesture than a substantial move. They said the cuts will have no real effect on popular flights in the coming summer peak season and over the period of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, because tickets are already fully booked. The Fair Trade Commission also said the CAA should come up with more aggressive measures to push the carriers to reduce their ticket prices further and provide feedback to their customers. 