President Ma Ying-jeou (堜褙朐) yesterday asked the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and the Ministry of National Defense to examine the possibility of using part of the military properties at Taipei Songshan Airport to establishment private jet centers.
Ma instructed the CAA to do so when he visited the airport yesterday morning, with the airport scheduled to offer direct flights to Shanghai＊s Hongqiao Airport next month.
The policy, which was one of the promises Ma made during his presidential campaign two years ago, is aimed at forming a ※Golden Aviation Circle§ in Northeast Asia that will help connect Taipei to Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul. Direct flights between Taipei Songshan Airport and Tokyo＊s Haneda International Airport are to be launched in October.
Taiwan has yet to complete negotiations with South Korea over the flight service between Songshan and Gimpo International Airport.
CAA director-general Lee Long-wen (軝蛅湞) gave a presentation on the CAA＊s development plan for the airport yesterday.
Lee said Songshan airport would function differently from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
※Songshan will function as the national airport in the capital, targeting time-sensitive business personnel,§ Lee said.
※It will provide a limited international flight service and will continue to serve as a hub for domestic flights,§ he said.
While Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport offers cross-〝continental flights, Taipei Songshan Airport will provide regional flights within Northeast Asia and to some first-tier business cities in China, Lee said.
Aside from regular passenger services, Lee said the airport plans to establish a private jet service center at Songshan. Based on the CAA＊s plan, the ideal site to build such a facility is the presidential aircraft maintenance hangar and other properties nearby belonging to the Songshan Air Base Command.
Ma said after the presentation that the private jet service center is not designed to grant special favors to rich people.
※We are simply following a global trend by allowing private jets to land and depart from a public airport,§ Ma said.
The airport already allows private jet owners access to its facilities. However, unlike other countries, it does not provide separate customs, inspection, quarantine and maintenance facilities for private jet owners.
Ma also commented on the ticket price for cross-strait flights, as many passengers have complained that the direct flight service is too expensive.
※Though the number of cross-strait flights has increased from 270 to 370 per week, this is not enough to bring down the retail price,§ Ma said, adding that it is a question of supply and demand.
To help lower the cost of cross-strait flights, both sides must increase the number of flights to 500 per week, he said.
Ma also reiterated that the nation would not open the middle line of the Taiwan Strait for cross-strait flights. Regarding cross-strait negotiations for the fifth freedom of the air, or the right to fly connecting flights, Ma said the issue is not a priority at the moment.
※The issue we need to address now is the insufficient supply of cross-strait flights,§ he said.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
RSS