A lawmaker yesterday criticized the government's plans to expand and remodel the Chingchuankang (清泉崗) military air base in Taichung into an international airport as "unnecessary and far-fetched."
"The demand for the city's air links will greatly decline after both the north-south high speed railway and highway are completed," DPP Legislator Chiu Tai-san (
"Taiwan should in fact begin to consider shutting down some surplus domestic airports instead of building more," he said.
The lawmaker made the comments after the Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development approved a plan on Wednesday to relocate the Taichung Airport to the Chingchuankang air base by January 2004, before building an international airport there on a time frame yet to be determined.
The airport expansion plan -- drafted by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications two years ago -- proposes an additional airport lounge for civilian use at a cost of NT$560 million, according to Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (
"After the expansion, the new Chingchuankang airport, in the near term, will facilitate both military and civilian use by taking advantage of the existing runway," local Chinese-language media quoted Lin as saying on Wednesday.
According to the ministry's statistics, traffic at Taichung Airport has declined from 1.88 million passengers in 1997 to 1.25 million passengers last year, while the to-be-expanded Chingchuankang airport will only have a maximum capacity of 1 million passengers per year -- far less than 5 million passengers required for a standard international airport.
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Lin said that the expansion plan's completion date was previously set for October 2005, when the north-south high-speed rail line will be launched. With the second north-south super highway set to be completed late next year, however, the expansion and relocation plan can be put forward ahead of schedule, the minister said.
As for the project's medium and long-term goals, Lin said that the ministry will allocate a budget of NT$57 million between next year and 2006 to thoroughly study the possibility of turning the air base further into an international airport, especially in light of the development of central science park.
Endorsing the ministry's assessment, Council of Economic Planning and Development Vice Chairman Chang Jing-sen (
The new plan will not only be a realization of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) campaign promise, but also a move welcomed by both Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) and Taichung County Commissioner Huang Chung-sheng (黃仲生).
Hu and Huang hope that Ching-chuankang Airport will become the nation's third international airport,exclusively serving direct flights between China and Taiwan.
But Chiu said that few international carriers will bypass Taoyuan's Chiang Kai-shek International Airport or Kaohsiung Airport.
"The possibility is very low," Chiu said.
The relocation plan will also create inconveniences for local flyers because of a lack of connecting roads around the new airport.
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