Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) yesterday apologized for mishandling runway repairs at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport that resulted in two days of flight disruptions.
The airport on Sunday closed its southern 05R/23L runway for annual maintenance, leaving the northern runway the sole operational airstrip, causing more than 100 flight delays with at least 10 being rerouted.
When asked to report on the matter, Wang told a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee that he was sorry and an internal review has been launched to investigate the incident.
Photo: CNA
This year’s annual runway maintenance covered a larger area than usual, leading to longer suspensions of operations on the affected airstrip, he said.
State-owned Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) lacked vigilance and did not understand the implications of conducting repairs at 16 separate locations, Wang said.
The difficulties were foreseeable, and measures should have been taken to mitigate their impact and notify passengers of possible delays, he said.
When asked if passengers would be paid compensation, Wang said that TIAC is in the process of consulting with the affected travelers and that a decision would be made at a later time.
TIAC president and chief executive officer Fan Hsiao-lun (范孝倫) said standard procedures did not require passengers to be notified of runway repairs, with only airlines and pilots being informed.
One of the annual repairs conducted during the local outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had taken 15 hours to complete, but it did not cause disruptions of the scale experienced this week, he said.
TIAC departments involved in the runway incident have been ordered to improve their performance, Fan said, adding that the airport’s northern runway would also need to be maintained later this year.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Ming-che (魯明哲) criticized the ministry and TIAC, saying that massive delays were an “absurd” outcome of routine repairs.
“This incident is worrisome because there could be other dangers that we do not know about,” Lu said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said responsible officials had flown to Japan to observe runway maintenance at Kansai International Airport as recently as late last year.
“What did that research trip achieve?” Lin asked.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
RSS