Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is inviting travelers frustrated by COVID-19 restrictions and who miss the airport to take a tour of its new facilities.
In a campaign to highlight the airport’s renovated facilities, which have sat idle since the Lunar New Year, it is inviting people to apply online for a chance to pass through immigration, tour its restricted area and board an airplane in a tour to last three-and-a-half hours, airport officials said on Friday.
“If you can’t go abroad, come to the airport for a fake trip,” said Hsu Ting (許婷), of the airport’s planning division.
Hsu said that winners of a Facebook drawing would complete boarding procedures as though they were actually traveling abroad, including taking advantage of a promotion from duty-free chain Ever Rich to purchase merchandise tax-free — except for tobacco.
They could also eat snacks at the airport’s new scenic restaurant, as well as board a China Airlines or EVA Airways Airbus 330 passenger jet for 15 minutes to learn about the airlines’ COVID-19 control measures, Hsu said.
While aboard, attendants would seat the “passengers” and give them the standard pre-flight safety instructions, and then demonstrate how they sanitize their cabins, as well as promote their business-class service, Hsu said.
The aircraft doors would remain open during the experience.
The airport is to hold three events from 9am to 12:30pm on July 2 with China Airlines, July 4 with EVA and July 7 with EVA. The airport would draw 30 winners for each slot.
No international flights, including to China, are scheduled during those times, Hsu said.
Each winner can bring one friend, meaning a total of up to 60 people could attend each session, Hsu said.
To apply, go to the airport’s event page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TSA.tw/.
The tour would be held in Mandarin, and foreign nationals can present either their passports or Alien Resident Certificates for identification purposes, Hsu said.
The application process is to end at 2pm on Wednesday.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS