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.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper