More than 2,000 passengers are expected to arrive daily at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from today to Tuesday next week to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday, which is to begin on Feb. 11.
As travelers returning from overseas must undergo 14 days of quarantine, during which there can only be “one person in one housing unit” — in accordance with a directive that took effect on Friday last week — many have chosen to return this week, causing holiday travelers to arrive at the airport four weeks before the holiday, Taiwan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said yesterday, adding that the number of travelers is expected to peak on Friday.
To facilitate the movement of homebound travelers inside terminals, the airport operator said it would deploy personnel to guide them to the dining area, as well as disease-prevention taxi and bus fleets.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
If unexpected changes in flight schedules lead to a surge in passenger numbers inside terminals, the taxi and vehicle rental operators could deploy 100 additional disease-prevention taxis from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), as well as 100 rental vehicles to meet the demand, the company said.
Meanwhile, a construction group formed by RSEA Engineering Corp and Seoul-based Samsung C&T Corp on Monday passed the second-phase tender of specifications for a new terminal and would enter the final round of reviews on Thursday next week.
The team would be handed the contract to build the airport’s Terminal 3 if it passes the final review, TIAC said.
The state-owned company hosted the first-phase tender of qualifications on Aug. 21 last year, when the team and another group were qualified to enter the second-phase tender of specifications.
The second-phase tender was scheduled to take place last month, but the company moved the deadline to Monday, as both teams posed questions over tender documents, it said.
Based on the company’s construction plan, the project involves the building of a north satellite concourse, Terminal 3 and a south satellite concourse, which are to be completed in 2024, 2025 and 2026 respectively.
The new terminal would be designed to accommodate 45 million travelers annually, the company said, adding that the two concourses would help expand the capacity by 20 million passengers per year.
The company is considering building more satellite concourses connecting to the terminal, which could increase capacity by 25 million passengers, it said.
In other news, the Civil Aeronautics Administration yesterday said it would propose an amendment to the regulations governing the management of uncrewed aerial vehicles, which would extend the validity of operational permits for pesticide-spraying drones from three months to six months.
The agency started implementing regulations regarding drone management in the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) in March last year, Flight Standards Division Deputy Director Wu Chia-jen (吳家珍) said.
As of Thursday last week, the nation had 63,568 registered drones and had issued 7,986 operation permits, agency data showed.
On Dec. 21 last year, the agency hosted a forum on the future of drones, during which representatives from the Council of Agriculture and other government agencies proposed amending the regulations to meet some of the practical needs of drone users.
Wu said that the agency would focus on three main items following a preliminary review of the regulations.
First, the validity of operational permits for pesticide-spraying drones would be extended from three months to six months, he said.
Second, the amendment would allow drone users seeking to obtain professional operational licenses to take tests directly without first having to obtain general operational licenses, Wu said.
Third, physical fitness standards set for drone users would be identical to those for vehicle drivers, he added.
The agency aims to complete the amendments by March, Wu said.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
COMPLIANCE: The SEF has helped more than 3,900 Chinese verify documents, indicating that most of those affected are willing to cooperate, the MAC said More than 3,100 spouses from China have submitted proof of renunciation of their Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The National Immigration Agency has since April issued notices to spouses to submit proof that they had renounced their Chinese household registration on or before June 30 or their Taiwanese household registration would be revoked. People having difficulties obtaining such a document can request an extension of the deadline or submit a written affidavit in lieu of it. The council said it would hold a briefing at 2:30pm on Friday at the immigration agency’s Taichung office in cooperation with the
The government-funded human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is to be expanded to boys at junior-high school starting in September, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. The Taiwan Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Taiwan Immunization Vision and Strategy, the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan, the Taiwan Head and Neck Society, the Formosa Cancer Foundation and the National Alliance of Presidents of Parents Associations held a joint news conference in Taipei yesterday to raise public awareness about the risks of HPV infection, regardless of gender. Invited to give an address, HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun