With the inauguration of Taichung's new Chingchuankang airport set for next Friday, lawmakers and government officials yesterday inspected the airport and stressed that it would not open without a fire safety license.
"The airport failed the fire safety inspections performed on Feb. 23 by the Taichung County Government on nine accounts. We've already asked that appropriate changes be made," said Abraham Huang (
He said the agency was confident that the airport would be ready for its inaugural flights on March 5 as the changes to be made were minor.
"If the airport does not pass the fire safety inspections, then we will not use the airport," said Billy Chang (
Fire safety inspections began last June, but the county government has yet to license the airport.
Chang said another inspection was performed yesterday and that results would be forthcoming.
People First Party (PFP) legislators Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) and Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), along with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chi Kuo-tung (紀國棟) criticized the CAA yesterday, saying it was allowing the airport to open prematurely in order to fulfill one of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) campaign promises.
The three lawmakers, along with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Ming-hsien (
The opposition lawmakers said the airport needed to plan for problems that could arise with traffic to the airport, civilian use of the airport during military exercises and other safety issues.
Earlier this month, the inauguration ceremony for the Hualien airport was cancelled because the Hualien County Government had not yet granted it a safety certificate.
The first flights from Chingchuankang International Airport will be chartered flights to Tokyo, Palau and Thailand scheduled to depart March 5.
Taichung's original airport at Shuinan will be phased out on March 6, the date set for domestic flights to depart from the new Chingchuankang facility.
Chingchuankang, a military airbase, will be used for both military and civilian flights.
According to Chang, however, the facility will not operate as a standard international airport with scheduled international flights until at least 2008.
Fu Yao-nan (傅耀南), head of the Taichung airport, explained that while the airport would be unable to accommodate large-scale international chartered flights, chartered flights with 100 passengers or less could be serviced.
Meanwhile, Chang also confirmed rumors that the DPP's Lee Ming-hsien had applied for NT$10 million with the CAA to hold a banquet to celebrate the airport's inauguration.
Lee, however, denied the rumors and questioned whether a legislator even had the right to make such a request. He was not aware of any organized celebrations.
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