Traditional Taiwanese snacks such as fried oysters or meat balls could be available at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport as early as the next Lunar New Year after Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIA) said on Sunday it would turn the basement of Terminal 2 into a venue serving Taiwanese dishes.
“We are planning to redesign it so that it resembles a street with shops selling traditional Taiwanese snacks on both sides, showcasing dishes made on site, such as fried oysters, meat balls, squid stew soup or fried rice noodles,” TIA vice president Wei Sheng-chih (魏勝之) said of the 200-ping (660m2) basement.
At present, many of the food stands at the airport’s terminals can only heat up food, as fire safety regulations bar stall operators from using live flame inside the terminal, which is not equipped with a fire sprinkler system.
Wei said the company had visited the Breeze Center at Taipei Railway Station as well as food courts at various department stores for ideas, adding that it was now drafting the bidding requirements for contractors.
The quality of food served at the airport has come under public scrutiny lately after Taiwanese gourmet Han Liang-lu (韓良露) referred to is as “expensive and unpalatable.”
In related news, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) on Friday amended air traffic control procedures in the wake of a series of incidents at the nation’s main international airport.
The new procedures dictate that aircraft crossing or taxiing on a runway will automatically fall under the supervision of control tower staff. Previously, control tower staff only assumed the task after being informed by ground control officers.
Ground control officials had mainly been in charge of guiding aircraft before they enter a runway and after an aircraft has left the runway, while control tower officials had been responsible for giving instructions during takeoff and landing.
Chien Yuan-lin (錢元琳), deputy director of CAA’s Air Navigation and Weather Service, said the new regulation was designed to reduce the potential for error during the handover.
Chien said air traffic personnel must emphasize action words when giving instructions, adding that if they need the pilots to abort takeoff, they must explain why.
The frequency of on-the-spot inspections would also be increased from once every three months to once every month and recorded air traffic conversations would be monitored on a regular basis.
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