While the nation’s international airports witnessed a dramatic decline in the number of passengers last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, four airports on outlying islands reported strong growth in passengers, with the number exceeding that recorded in 2019.
Statistics from the Civil Aeronautics Administration showed that four of the eight airports on the nation’s outlying islands recorded strong growth in the number of passengers last year, despite the pandemic.
The four airports were on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), Nangan (南竿) in Lienchiang County, and Cimei (七美) and Wangan (望安) in Penghu County.
The largest growth was recorded at Lanyu airport, where the number of passengers grew by 24.6 percent to 57,529, the data showed.
It was followed by the airports in Wangan, Nangan and Cimei, with the number of passengers increasing by 20, 19.1 and 11.8 percent respectively.
Passenger numbers at the airports in Hualien and Tainan dropped by 40 percent last year, while Chiayi and Penghu’s Magong airports recorded a 30 percent fall.
The remaining airports serving domestic flights recorded passenger volume down by about 10 percent.
Passenger numbers at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport dwindled significantly, from about 48 million in 2019 to 7.4 million last year.
Passenger numbers at the airports in Kaohsiung, Taichung and Taipei fell by about 70, 60 and 50 percent respectively.
In related news, the wireless Internet service at Taoyuan airport has been upgraded from Wi-Fi 4 to Wi-Fi 6, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said yesterday, adding that the new service would give people at the airport a much faster Internet connection.
The airport is the nation’s first public transport hub to install Wi-Fi 6 on its public Wi-Fi service, the airport operator said, adding that its ability to effectively handle more traffic makes it ideal for use in public spaces.
The fastest transmission speed provided by the Wi-Fi 4 service was 150 megabits per second, while the Wi-Fi 6 service provides transmission speeds of up to 1.2 gigabits per second, it said.
Meanwhile, Chunghwa Telecom and Far EasTone Telecommunications have accelerated construction of 5G networks at the airport, which are due to be completed by May, the airport operator said.
“The combination of Wi-Fi 6 and 5G services would allow more air travelers to swiftly connect to the Internet using mobile devices. It would also enable air travelers to quickly fill in quarantine declaration forms online, limiting contact between people and consequently preventing the spread of disease,” the company said, adding that faster Internet connections would facilitate the work of airport service personnel and make possible the provision of smart services.
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