The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) is planning to expand operations at Taipei Songshan Airport by increasing international flights from September next year.
Domestic flights will be moved to a different part of the terminal by February next year. Currently it is being used as an arrival area for international flights, the CAA said.
Renovation work began last month, as Taiwan will soon provide direct flight services from Songshan to Haneda Airport in Tokyo and Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai.
The CAA said in its briefing yesterday that the customs-inspection-quarantine (CIQ) area as well as duty free shops will be located on the second floor of the terminal and that passengers will board flights from the second floor and arrive on the third floor.
It is estimated that the entire project will cost approximately NT$920 million (US$28.8 million).
In related news, CAA director general Lee Long-wen (李龍文) yesterday urged China’s Civil Aviation Administration to quickly begin negotiations over direct flight services between Songshan and Hongqiao.
Lee made the comments after China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Fan Liqing (范麗青) said on Wednesday that Taiwan and China should look into the possibility of providing charter flights between Songshan and Hongqiao so that people can visit the World Expo next month.
Lee said the demand for tickets to Shanghai has greatly exceeded supply, and charter flights would help ease the strain.
“It [the charter flight service] should be a temporary measure,” Lee said. “Both sides should strive to provide regular flights between Songshan and Honqiao.”
Lee said negotiations over the number of charter flights and the time slots for the landing and departure of aircraft would be conducted on a basis of equity.
To save time, Lee suggested the Songshan-Honqiao charter flight service be handled separately from other cross-strait flight issues.
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