Tourism in Taichung, and Taitung and Lienchiang counties would receive a boost after renovations are completed at airports this summer, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said on Tuesday.
The agency spent more than NT$900 million (US$29.23 million) to integrate the domestic and international terminals at Taichung International Airport and install three new jet bridges, CAA Aerodrome Division Director Eric Lin (林宏憲) said.
The integrated terminal would expand passenger capacity to 3.97 million per year from 2.69 million per year, he said.
Photo copied by Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
About NT$812 million was spent to reinforce the tarmac at Taitung Airport, which would allow Boeing 738s, Airbus A321s and other aircraft of similar size to land there, Lin said.
About NT$217 million was spent to renovate Terminal 1 at Lienchiang County’s Nangan Airport, with its electrical systems and air-conditioning upgraded, and build Terminal 2, Lin said.
The terminals can jointly serve 570,000 air travelers per year, up from 410,000 previously, he said.
Renovations at Nangan Airport and Taichung airport are scheduled to be completed next month, although some of the facilities are in use already, he said.
Construction at Taitung Airport is scheduled to be completed in August, he said.
The agency has budgeted NT$1.15 billion to improve airport facilities at Qimei (七美) and Wangan (望安) townships in Penghu County and on Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in Taitung County, Lin said, adding that the work was scheduled to begin by the end of the year.
The first phase of a new terminal project at Kaohsiung International Airport is also scheduled to begin by the end of this year, he added.
The new Kaohsiung terminal is designed to serve 16.5 million air passengers per year, with construction estimated to cost more than NT$1.965 billion, Lin said.
Work is scheduled to be completed by 2032, he said.
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