Landing fees for international flights other than at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) are to be waived from Oct. 1 to boost international visitor numbers, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Thursday last week told reporters that the ministry had plans to boost international visits after Beijing reduced its quotas for Chinese travelers to Taiwan.
In addition to the goal of 20 million international visits per year by 2030, Lin said that the ministry would subsidize up to half of ground operation costs for international charter flights that land at Hualien or Taitung airports, with that plan also to take effect next month.
The ministry yesterday said that Lin at a meeting last week asked ministry officials to study the possibility of allowing flights from Japan, South Korea and nations targeted by the New Southbound Policy to land at airports in central, southern and eastern Taiwan free of charge for a period.
The nations covered by the policy are the 10 members of ASEAN, as well as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
Officials decided that the plan should also apply to flights from Hong Kong and Macau, the ministry said.
Details of the plan would soon be officially announced by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), it said, adding that it is to run through March 31 next year.
The CAA estimated that the plan would reduce its landing fee revenue by NT$126 million (US$4.01 million).
However, the Tourism Bureau said that the plan would increase the output value of the tourism industry in central, southern and eastern Taiwan, and facilitate marketing efforts for attractions in those areas.
As 8 percent of landing fee revenue is earmarked for local governments, the CAA Operating Fund would cover any shortfall at local administrations, the ministry said.
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