Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin called Tuesday for direct flights between Taipei Songshan Airport and Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport before June 14 when he is due to visit Shanghai for 'Taipei Culture Week' at the 2010 World Exposition. Hau said the airlines and civil aviation authorities of the two sides have been negotiating the technical details of the matter and he hopes the flights could be launched before his departure date. 'The Taipei City government will definitely help with the initiative,' he said. 'Songshan-Hongqiao flights are crucial to establishing a one-day life cycle between the two major destinations across the Taiwan Strait and to attracting visitors to the Taipei International Floral Exposition in November,' Hau said. Taiwan's largest gateway, Taoyuan international airport, is located some 80 kilometers south of Taipei. Hau said the Songshan-Hongqiao flights will not affect the current five weekly flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Pudong, which is the main domestic airport in Shanghai. Taiwan's main carriers -- China Airlines (CAL) , EVA Airways and Trans Asia Airways -- all operate direct flights to various destinations in China. In light of strong demand for cross-strait cargo and passenger transportation, the Macquarie Group, a global investment bank and financial services group, raised its profit forecasts for CAL and EVA Airways in its latest report Tuesday. The current 270 cross-strait flights per week will not be able to handle the large number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan, which has grown to 3,824 per day in recent weeks, Macquarie analysts said. It would require 580 flights per week to handle the passenger load, the analysts said. In the report, the analysts raised their forecasts for CAL's share price from NT$14.5 to NT$17 and it revised its EPS for this year to 36 percent. The analysts also adjusted their forecasts for EVA Airway's share price from NT$16.5 to NT$19.5, with an EPS of 37 percent for 2010. The report retained its 'outperforming' rating for both CAL and EVA Airways. 