Taichung Airport is planning major expansions of its facilities next year to facilitate its upgrade into an international airport, government officials and lawmakers said at a conference at the airport on Wednesday.
The conference on the future of Taichung Airport was attended by Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and representatives of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Taichung City Government.
The meeting was convened to discuss the airport’s transformation into an international airport by improving its freight and passenger capacity, and to ensure that it would become an important traffic node and not be relegated to an adjunct to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Tsai said.
Taichung Airport director Chang Jui-shu (張瑞澍) said that to meet an anticipated increase in demand, the airport has started construction of a second taxiway that is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Seven remote and overnight bays will also start construction between next year and 2018.
The airport’s main terminal is to be expanded to accommodate international and domestic flights. The contract is to be tendered next year with a target completion date of 2019. The plans are to be submitted to the Executive Yuan next year, Chang added.
Taichung City Government representatives said that construction of the international airport facilities should be expedited, with dedicated runways planned for military and civilian air traffic.
They said that the airport expansion should serve regional economic development and that the transportation linkage between the airport and Taichung’s economic hinterland should be bolstered, with a target capacity objective of handling 10 million passengers a year.
New Power Party Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) said that the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) should plan to promote balanced regional development, with an emphasis on reordering the nation’s air routes and waypoints to divert freight and passenger air traffic, and to integrate Taichung airport’s expansion with the city’s economic policy.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said that air traffic policy has changed in recent years, and rather than concentrating solely on Taoyuan airport, the ministry’s plans would emphasize regional economic development.
Hochen added that in developing Taichung international airport, the ministry foresees a close relationship between the airport, the defense ministry and the Aerospace Industrial Development Corp to advance the nation’s aeronautic research and maintenance.
Taichung Deputy Mayor Lin Ling-shan (林陵三) said that the city government had successfully negotiated with the defense ministry, and the airport’s no-fly hours are to be reduced from the 11pm to 7am enforced at present, to 12am to 7am, and that defense officials had agreed to increase its daily flight quota from 58 to 85.
Lin added that the aerospace corporation had agreed to allow the CAA to use its idle land for taxiways, which should decrease wait time at the airport.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
Former minister of transportation and communications Kuo Yao-chi (郭瑤琪), who was sentenced to eight years in prison for taking bribes from contractors, has died aged 69, sources said today. The sources said Kuo was rushed to Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital in Taipei for emergency treatment due to a life-threatening aortic dissection on Sunday and was pronounced dead at about 11am today. The hospital declined to disclose any information about Kuo's disease, citing patient privacy. Kuo was transport minister between January and August 2006, during which time she oversaw the official opening of the 12.94km Hsuehshan Tunnel, the longest in Taiwan. In April
RSS