President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday officiated a ceremony to mark the reopening of the north runway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after a nine-month overhaul.
Ma praised project contributors and said the upgrade is expected to ease air traffic congestion.
The ceremony culminated with the first takeoff from the refurbished runway, a China Airlines flight carrying 369 passengers to Seoul, the company said.
Photo: CNA
Both the north and south airport runways have returned to operational status this year, Ma said, adding that it was not an easy achievement.
After several years of rapid growth, Taiwan’s main gateway has become one of the world’s busiest airports, Ma said, adding that its development should be continued.
The two runways have been undergoing major overhauls since last year. After the south runway reopened on Jan. 8, Taoyuan International Airport Corp closed the north runway on March 6 for renovations — the first major renovation project since the airport opened in 1979.
The north runway was scheduled to be reopened on Jan. 8, but thanks to the concerted efforts of a number of government agencies and construction firms, the runway was able to be reopened earlier than scheduled, the company said.
With the north runway operational the airport can schedule 50 flights per hour on the two runways, instead of the maximum 33 on one runway, the company said, adding that the punctuality rate is likely to increase from 85 percent to 98 percent.
The renovated north runway, at 3,660m long and 60m wide, is equipped with advanced navigation assistance systems, meaning the airport is able to handle larger passenger planes, such as the Airbus A380, the company added.
It took 294 work days to complete the upgrades at a cost of NT$2.5 billion (US$75.75 million), the company said.
The company said it aims to complete the expansion of the airport’s second and third terminals over the next five years and increase capacity to 100 million passengers each year by 2030.
A third runway is also planned.
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