Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday said he “felt terribly shamed” by two blackouts that occurred at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Wednesday and called for an investigation into the cause of the incident and why the airport lacked a backup power system.
“The airport is as important as hospitals, or even more important than hospitals,” a statement released by the Executive Yuan quoted Wu as saying during the weekly Cabinet meeting.
On Wednesday at 5:30pm, Taoyuan International Airport was struck by a power outage that lasted for about one-and-a-half hours. The baggage system was restored at 7:10pm, but two of the conveyor belts remained stalled.
PHOTO: CNA
At 10:17pm, the airport was hit by another power outage. Power was restored after 33 minutes.
Although the emergency system provided partial power supply during the outage, the baggage conveyor system was not immediately restored to full capacity because the security mechanism for automatically restarting the system requires that all power control panels and switchboards be reset.
As the wait-time for their luggage dragged on, some travelers sat on the conveyor belts, with a couple even falling asleep. A few complained that the incident was an embarrassment, as the airport is supposed to be the nation’s gateway to the world.
The airport’s management pointed the finger at Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), accusing it of providing “unstable” power supply, adding that it was mulling seeking compensation from the state utility.
Taipower, however, said that its preliminary investigation showed that the power outage was triggered by the extremely sensitive settings of some of the low-voltage equipment at the airport.
Wu said that it was vital for the airport to have an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system as well as power generators that can generate electricity in case of a power failure. He added that maintaining a stable supply of electricity in the airport is not only a matter of convenience for travelers, but also affects the nation’s reputation.
“Freight and passenger volume at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has grown significantly, but minor incidents could easily overshadow these achievements,” he said.
Saying that he felt ashamed by the incident, Wu said he had ordered the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to investigate the cause and remedy the problem.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday formally began corporate-style operations, with Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) serving as chairman of the new state-run Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co (桃園國際機場公司).
Setting forth the company’s goal of developing the airport into the heart of air transport in East Asia, Yeh at the time said he was confident of making the airport one of the world’s top 10 within three years, although he acknowledged that it would be very challenging.
With the two power outages, several airline companies’ officials gave the airport’s new management a failing grade for how it handled its first crisis.
Expressing surprise at the long time it took to get the baggage retrieval system working again, they said the company should not make up excuses and blame the age of the equipment — which is the most fundamental equipment at an airport — for the problem.
The airport, which has been run as a government agency since it opened in 1979, has suffered repeated malfunctions in recent months, including leaking bathrooms, defective runways and a breakdown of the baggage handling system.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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