Starting today, travelers can transit through the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport before flying to a third country, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said this week, after the transit service had been suspended for more than one year.
The airport operator resumed the service after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Saturday further eased border control measures that were imposed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The center has also lifted the ban on inbound passengers being picked up by friends and relatives at the airport.
Photo courtesy of Taoyuan International Airport Corp
On Monday afternoon, the company conducted a drill to ensure that all stakeholders at the airport are familiar with the new procedures, from guiding transit passengers to the security checkpoint and dining areas to ensuring that relatives pick up international arrivals in the designated areas.
The drill proceeded smoothly as the duties had been divided among airline personnel, duty-free shop workers, and Aviation Police Bureau and Centers for Disease Control officers, TIAC president Jerry Dan (但昭璧) said following the practice run.
“Allowing international arrivals to be picked up by their friends and relatives will greatly shorten the time they wait at the airport,” he said.
Upon disembarking, transit passengers would be guided by airline crew to a security checkpoint, and then wait for reboarding at designated boarding gates or VIP rooms, TIAC said.
Duty-free purchases or meals ordered would be delivered to them, the company said.
In addition to wearing a designated sticker, transit passengers would have to wear a mask and disinfect their hands, and airport personnel would read their temperature, it said, adding that terminal areas visited by the passengers would be cleaned and disinfected.
Arrivals remaining in Taipei could get a ride from family or friends, or take a quarantine taxi, the company said.
Friends and relatives must wait for arrivals in the international arrival terminal’s waiting area, it said, adding that they cannot park in the pickup zone outside.
Offenders would be fined by the Aviation Police Bureau, it added.
The airport suspended services to transit passengers on May 19 last year after the COVID-19 alert was raised to level 3.
Also taking effect today, international arrivals are to undergo a three-day home quarantine followed by a four-day self-initiated epidemic prevention period.
Arrivals must present a negative polymerase chain reaction test result within two days of flying to Taiwan and there is an initial cap of 25,000 arrivals per week.
In other news, the Travel Bureau has proposed that the requirement that people in domestic tour groups have a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine be waived, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said.
“Some travel agencies told us that most of those on local tours are elderly people, many of whom have yet to get a booster shot. The requirement has prompted them to cancel half of the tours,” Wang said. “We have written to the CECC with the hope that they can drop the booster shot requirement for domestic tour groups, just as they did for gym members.”
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS: The KMT urged the CECC to exclude Taiwanese from the arrivals cap, as they would lose their right to vote if they could not return by July 26 The COVID-19-related border control measures and the cap on the number of international arrivals are not being eased, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported 112 imported cases of the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is CECC spokesperson, said a meeting was held yesterday morning in which the Cabinet decided that current border control measures would remain in place. He said the main considerations were global COVID-19 cases increasing 21 percent last week, imported cases of Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 continuing to be detected
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday commenced mass production of 3-nanometer chips that are more powerful and efficient than predecessors, beating rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to a key milestone in the race to build the most advanced chips in the world. South Korea’s largest company said in a statement that it was beginning with 3-nanometer semiconductors for high-performance and specialized low-power computing applications before expanding to mobile processors. By applying so-called Gate-All-Around transistor architecture, Samsung’s 3-nanometer products reduce power consumption by up to 45 percent and improve performance by 23 percent compared with 5-nanometer chips, it said. Samsung’s push to be first
Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung (張學友) has been criticized by the “Little Pink” — a term used to describe young, jingoistic Chinese nationalists on the Web — for saying “Hong Kong jia you [加油, an expression of encouragement].” To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule on Friday, China Central Television made a series of programs in which it interviewed Cheung and other celebrities. Cheung, speaking in Cantonese, said in the interview that “Hong Kong has been through a lot in the past 25 years, including ups and downs” and ended with the phrase “Hong
‘STRONG SUPPORT’: Liberal International expressed concern over Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s airspace, saying they could undermine regional peace Liberal International on Saturday passed a “World Today Resolution” recognizing the threat that China poses to Taiwan, while supporting Taipei’s inclusion in international organizations. Liberal International was established in 1947 as a federation of liberal political parties from around the world. Last week, it held its 63rd congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, which was attended by 221 representatives from 58 countries. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), in her capacity as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), delivered a speech in a pre-recorded video at the congress’ opening on Thursday. DPP spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) yesterday said the party, which has been a member of