Pingtung County tourism industry associations have released a joint statement urging newly inaugurated Minister of Transportation and Communications Wu Hong-mo (吳宏謀) to upgrade runways and facilities at Hengchun Airport so that it could handle medium to heavy tourism traffic from the Asia-Pacific region.
Since the airport ceased operations in September 2014, there have been rumors that it might be permanently closed down.
A joint statement issued by the Tourism Industry League of Hengchun Peninsula, the Pingtung Tourism Association, the Pingtung Homestay Association and the Pingtung Association of Travel Agents said that when the airport was being planned in 2000, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications stated that fewer than 3.52 million tourists visited the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) each year and about 2.62 million foreigners visited Taiwan in 1999.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
Citing these facts, the government only invested NT$540 million (US$17.59 million at the current exchange rate) in the reconstruction of Hengchun Airport, rather than NT$10 billion, which would have prepared the runways and facilities for heavier traffic and positioned it as a medium to heavy traffic airport in the Asia-Pacific region, as international airlines suggested, said the statement, which was dated Wednesday.
Only light aircraft can operate at the airport, mostly transporting domestic cargo, the organizations said, adding that between November and March each year, the peninsula experiences five months of katabatic winds, which reduce flight safety, resulting in a decline in passenger traffic.
If the government had designed the airport for heavy traffic, perhaps it would be able to attract international travelers, as large aircraft are not affected by katabatic winds, it said.
Japan’s Narita International Airport, South Korea’s Incheon International Airport and Singapore’s Changi Airport are all within a three-and-a-half hour flight radius of Hengchun Airport, Tourism Industry League of Hengchun Peninsula chairman Chang Fu-sheng (張福生) said.
The government should take the 8 million annual visits to the Hengchun Peninsula into consideration and think about the hundreds of millions of annual tourist trips in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
He added that “from the viewpoint of Lufthansa, Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines,” if Pingtung’s Hengchun Township (恆春) is determined to compete with Sanya, China, or Bali, Indonesia, and develops ecotourism, wellness tourism and other types of travel, the peninsula could come to mean more than Kenting and become a gateway to southern Taiwan, he said.
The Pingtung County Government’s Department of Information and Tourism said it would like Wu to come up with different policies and a new vision.
Expanding the airport and venturing into the global market are the county government’s long-term goals, the agency said, adding that it would continue to search for opportunities to attract international charter flights.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS