The government plans to spend about NT$25 billion (US$806.4 million) by 2035 on a project to revamp runways and terminals at the Taichung International Airport and complete transportation links between it and other parts of the Taichung area, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Sunday.
Lin made the statement after the Taichung City Government suspended an urban zoning project outside the airport.
“We hope that the city government can look at this project from a broader perspective, so that the city’s facilities can keep up with demand with development in the greater Taichung area,” Lin said.
Passenger capacity at the airport is not meeting demand and the nation needs it and the Kaohsiung International Airport as backups to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, he said.
The Taichung airport was moved during the administration of then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 2004, Lin said, adding that its large hinterland is good for growth.
“When I was Taichung mayor, I asked the central government to quickly upgrade the Taichung airport to an international airport,” he said. “I also started planning the urban zoning project. Both steps were taken to expand the airport’s service capacity.”
Other achievements were made during his mayoral term, he said.
“Construction of two taxiways were finished and the tarmac was extended to accommodate more overnight aircraft,” he said.
The city also helped to shorten curfew hours at the Taichung airport, which helped increase flights to airports in Tokyo, to Wuxi and Sanya in China, to Ho Chih-Minh City, Macau, Bangkok, Hanoi and Incheon, South Korea, he said.
For the next phase of the project, the Civil Aeronautics Administration has budgeted an additional NT$2.9 billion for taxiway construction and to expand the capacity of the terminals, he said.
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