Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the nation’s largest and busiest airport, recorded major declines in both its volume of passengers and cargo transfers in the first half of the year, a worrying sign for the airport’s new operator, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC).
TIAC, a state-run company, was established with funding from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) on Nov. 1 last year to manage the airport. One of its major stated goals is to develop the airport into a regional air transportation center.
According to TIAC statistics released on Friday, the airport’s passenger traffic volume fell to 11.94 million arrivals in the first six months of the year, a decline of 4.1 percent from the same period last year.
Among the arrivals, 892,600 passengers made transit stops in Taiwan, a 14.9 percent decline from 1.05 million people last year, the statistics showed.
In terms of cargo shipments, transportation volume stood at 817,433 tonnes in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decline of 6.7 percent. Among the cargo shipments, 284,681 tonnes were transshipped cargo, falling by 14.03 percent from 331,127 tonnes in the same period last year.
“The figures are a warning sign,” said TIAC chairman Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時), who doubles as deputy minister of transportation and communications.
If the airport wants to become an East Asia transportation hub, it must be able to attract transit passengers from China, Yeh said.
According to a TIAC analysis, many inland Chinese airports only provide limited international air services. Therefore, passengers in inland cities who want to travel to other countries must first fly to Beijing and Shanghai to transit.
Because the Beijing and Shanghai airports are often overloaded, Taiwan could be a good option for Chinese passengers transiting overseas, TIAC researchers said.
However, to attract Chinese transit passengers, Taiwan must lift restrictions on their entry to Taiwan. Such a measure can’t be adopted, however, without relaxing the country’s border control policy, officials at the Civil Aeronautics Administration said, adding that the issue would be difficult to resolve in the short term.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it