Taiwan is preparing for the expected spike in overseas arrivals, adding a new terminal, a new runway and renovating the existing terminals at Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport.
The government has announced that it will begin construction on the third air terminal in the second half of this year, plans to build a modern and environmentally friendly building. The new terminal will be added on the left of Terminal Two.
President Ma Ying-jeou reportedly wants Taoyuan to become one of the world’s top five airports.
“Over the past few years, the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has seen its rankings in various categories drop. Now is the time to make a comeback,” The China Post quoted him as saying.
Under a new proposal, a 4,000m long third runway, which will be able to accommodate an Airbus A380, will also be constructed.
Ma also wants to decrease the time a new mass rapid transit (MRT) line will take from the airport to downtown Taipei, from the presently planned 35 minutes to 20 to 25 minutes to make the airport even more attractive and convenient.
Other upgrades includes the undergoing renovation of Terminal One to handle more passengers and traffic, plus the addition of a special area for private jet passengers at Terminal Two in response to rapid growth in this aviation sector. Both Terminal One and Two will get an additional 2,600 luggage carts each after complaints from travellers that these were hard to find at the terminals.
Taiwan’s main gateway has seen increasing traffic, consisting of Indian transit passengers travelling to the US and a growing number of mainland Chinese tourists.
According to the Taiwanese government website, last year's overseas arrivals reached a total of 12,513,288, of which Chinese arrivals were 953,009, a 200 percent increase over 2008.
Andrea Zavadszky
