The government should ease aviation restrictions at Taichung International Airport to facilitate the city’s development into a service hub for Taiwan’s machinery and aerospace industries, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Andy Chiu (邱臣遠) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The airport is near small and medium-sized businesses that form complete supply chains of Taiwan’s machinery and aerospace industries, Chiu said, adding that it has the potential to become a service hub for both industries.
However, large passenger and cargo jets cannot land at the airport because of restrictions linked to its use by military planes, Chiu said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
More international flights would land in Taichung if restrictions are eased to allow operations from 7am to midnight, instead of the current 7am to 11pm.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and the Ministry of National Defense should consider building new runways specifically for civilian aircraft, he said, adding that the airport’s economic benefits can be boosted without compromising national security.
In addition, the government should accelerate planning of zoning projects near the airport, while an access road should be quickly designed and built to connect the airport directly to the Formosa Freeway (National Freeway No. 3), he said.
More jet bridges should be procured for the airport, which would have an increase in international arrivals as global travel gradually recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Chiu said.
Chang Rui-tsang (張睿倉), a TPP candidate for Taichung city councilor, said that the airport would be more appropriate as a transit hub for short and medium-haul flights in Asia compared with Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport.
Taichung airport’s great potential has been limited by aviation regulations, which should be eased, Chang said.
CAA Deputy Director-General Fang Chih-wen (方志文) said that the agency has completed a master plan for Taichung airport through 2035.
In addition to being a large domestic airport, it is to be a regional international airport, an operating base for low-cost carriers and a hub for aerospace-related industries, Fang said.
The plan calls for Taichung airport to be accessed by 5.02 million passengers per year by 2035, Fang said, adding that developments would be planned on the expectation that the number of passengers would eventually reach 10 million per year.
The agency has also planned a third terminal for Taichung, he said.
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
RSS