Postpone building Tainan airport, MOTC suggests

Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) said yesterday that his ministry has told the Cabinet that construction of an international airport in Tainan should be postponed.

The ministry's suggestion was based on the belief that Kaohsiung's Hsiaokang Airport could adequately handle southern Taiwan's transportation needs through the year 2021.

"Over the next 20 to 30 years, southern Taiwan will not generate sufficient transportation volume to sustain the operation of an international airport in Tainan," Lin said.

The establishment of an airport depended not only upon the procurement of land and a budget, its "prospective transportation volume needs to be taken into account," he said.

The other reason the idea should be shelved for now is that the recruitment of companies for the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park has fallen short of expectations, Lin said.

Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) reacted strongly yesterday to the news, saying the ministry's suggestion will have a dramatic impact on Tainan County Government's efforts to recruit companies for the park.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) pledged during his 2000 presidential campaign to build an international airport in Taichung.

Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung also want international-level airports.

Su said Tainan had more advantages than the other counties for building an international airport.

He said the proposed airport would be located near a 1,000-hectare free-trade zone and would occupy 2,000 hectares itself, making it the largest airport in the nation.