President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, which will cost US$60 million and take two years to complete.
Terminal 1 is expected to be expanded by 13,000m², with capacity to handle 15 million passengers a year, up from the current 12 million.
“Thirty years ago, Taoyuan International Airport was the best airport in Asia,” Ma said.
But in a survey of 130 airports two years ago, its ranking had dropped to about No. 80,” Ma said.
Ma said the airport could become a regional air hub because it enjoys the shortest distance to all major airports and seaports in East Asia.
“If we don’t develop it into a regional air hub, we will be unworthy of our ancestors,” he said.
Billed as the largest airport in Asia when it opened in 1979, Taoyuan airport has become cramped and rundown in recent years. The roofs sometimes leak and its two runways have had to be closed for repairs.
Last year, the airport handled 21.9 million passengers, down 6.4 percent from 2007 partly because of the impact of the global financial crisis.
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