A Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) plan to turn Hengchun Airport into an international airport for charter flights would likely be given two years by the Executive Yuan to prove successful, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said yesterday.
MOTC Deputy Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said that the proposal was put forward by the Pingtung County Government and that the airport would remain open.
The local government should be given two years to test if the plan is feasible, Wang said, adding that the airport would serve passengers arriving on charter flights or commercial jets.
The CAA said it is drafting the procedures that international flight passengers arriving at the airport would need to undergo, adding that the security equipment in the airport is still up to international airport standards.
Based on the CAA’s plan, Kaohsiung International Airport would be responsible for sending workers to Hengchun Airport whenever international flights arrive, including customs, immigration, quarantine and security staff.
The plan must be approved by the Executive Yuan before the service is made available, the CAA said.
Located near Kenting National Park, Hengchun Airport was launched in January 2004 and only offers flights between Taipei and Hengchun.
Three carriers were given rights to operate the route, including Mandarin Airlines, TransAsia Airways and Uni Air. However, flights were often canceled because of strong downslope winds.
Since 2007, Uni Air has been the only carrier operating on the route. The airline replaced its Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft with larger ATR 72-600 aircraft on the route.
The airport is unable to accommodate larger airplanes, making the service unfeasible.
No flight arrivals have been recorded at the airport since September 2014, CAA data showed.
Prior to that, arrivals numbers slid from about 23,000 in 2004 to about 11,000 in 2006. The number was down to just 2,448 by 2011, the CAA said.
Despite the lack of arrivals, the CAA still needs to budget for personnel and maintenance costs for Hengchun Airport, which reports annual losses of about NT$60 million (US$1.87 million).
The CAA had planned to shut down the airport and turn the property over to the military, a proposal opposed by the Pingtung County Government.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
The Taipei District Court today ruled to extend the incommunicado detention of former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) for two more months as part of an ongoing corruption trial. Codefendants in the case — real-estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗) — were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) and NT$20 million respectively. Sheen and Lee would also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with codefendants or witnesses. The two would also be
RSS