International flight patronage this year could be about 30 percent of 2019’s figure as the COVID-19 pandemic has eased at home and abroad, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday.
Last year, the number of people who traveled internationally topped 5.78 million, up from 1.02 million in 2021, CAA data showed.
Last year’s figure was about 10 percent of what it was in 2019, the agency said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Nearly 1 million people traveled abroad from Jan. 19 to Monday last week, with outbound passengers averaging 40,000 per day, it said.
“We estimate that the number of international flight passengers could return to 30 percent of the 2019 level and next year’s air passengers could reach 60 to 70 percent of the 2019 level,” CAA Deputy Director-General Clark Lin (林俊良) said. “International flight passenger volume should fully return to the pre-pandemic levels by 2025.”
Asked whether Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has sufficient ground crew to cope with a surge of international air travelers in the post-pandemic era, Lin said that the agency is closely monitoring the situation.
“We hope that the number of ground crew will grow with the rise of international travelers,” he said.
Separately, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said that the contractor in charge of building the airport’s third terminal has asked to increase construction costs due to rising raw material prices.
The project, which was approved in May 2020, was to cost NT$95.6 billion (US$3.18 billion).
About 45 percent of the project has been completed since construction began in 2021, TIAC said.
“In the past two years, the cost of construction has continued to rise. The average price index of construction projects has increased by 12.8 percent, with the largest increase in a single month being 22 percent,” it said. “The largest single-month increase in the steel bar and plate index was nearly 60 percent.”
“The extra funding that the contractor can request due to price index adjustments has also risen,” it said, adding that the funding plan would have to be reviewed to ensure the project continues.
A funding adjustment must be approved by the company’s board of directors, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Executive Yuan, it said.
“Funding for the project is likely to exceed NT$100 billion, but some board directors suggested that the price adjustment be more carefully calculated and take into account delays in construction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said CAA Director-General Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯), who is acting TIAC chairman.
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