Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Deputy Director-General Fang Chih-wen (方志文) yesterday said that the nation should wait until at least 2030 to evaluate whether Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) should be closed completely, after terminals three and four, as well as the third runway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, have been completed.
Fang made the remarks after the CAA announced plans to relocate Songhshan airport to Taoyuan by 2020.
Fang said Songshan airport is a hub for flights serving the outlying islands, as well as remote areas, adding that the facilities in the airport are shared by civilian carriers and the air force.
Passenger volumes at Songshan airport reached 6.1 million last year, including 3.3 million passengers on international flights and 2.8 million on domestic flights, Fang said.
Given the limited capacity at the Songshan facility, Fang said that the administration has capped passenger volume there at 7.1 million.
Among 2.8 million passengers on domestic flights, 2.3 million are those boarding flights heading to outlying islands and remote areas, he said, adding that any plan to close Songshan airport should be discussed among stakeholders.
Fang said the administration needs to consider whether it is viable to move all of Songshan’s passengers and flights to Taoyuan, adding that the Taipei City Government made estimates based on passenger volume for last year and failed to take into account potential growth of passenger numbers in the coming years.
Statistics from the CAA showed that Taoyuan airport is scheduled to have two runways in operation after renovation work is completed on Jan. 18, with the new facilities able to handle 50 flights per hour.
The runway at Songshan airport can handle 23 flights per hour.
The runways in Taoyuan would not have the capacity to handle additional flights if they are moved from Songshan, Fang said.
The Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC), which operates Taoyuan airport, estimated that the passenger volume at the nation’s largest international airport would reach 66.24 million per year by 2030 and 86.30 million per year by 2042, adding that it is a “properly optimistic estimate.”
The corporation said the combined capacity for Terminal One and Terminal Two would reach 37 million per year after the company expands the service area of Terminal Two.
By 2020, the total service capacity at the terminals in Taoyuan would top 62 million per year, including 20 million in terminal three and 5 million in terminal four.
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