Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to have 16 new overnight aircraft parking spaces available by Lunar New Year next year in response to a significant rise in passenger volumes, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Passenger traffic at the nation’s largest international airport was more than 35 million this year through last month, up 5.24 percent from the same period last year, the company said.
Passenger volume this year could potentially surpass 49 million, exceeding levels from before the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.
Photo: CNA
The airport company is building a third terminal and a third runway. The northern concourse of the new terminal is scheduled to open by the end of this year.
Construction of the third runway, which began in September 2023, is key to the development of the airport, said Jenny Pi (畢金菱), assistant vice president of the company’s Project Engineering Department.
The new runway is on a 581 hectare plot at the airport’s north side that the company acquired from private owners, Pi said.
To ease the effect of construction on airport operations, the company planned a temporary overnight aircraft parking apron at the airport’s northeast corner, she said.
The site covers 18.9 hectares and has concrete pavement, she said.
Phase 1 of the temporary parking apron project was completed on July 25, providing nine overnight aircraft parking spaces, which are now in use, Pi said.
Seven more parking spaces would be created through Phase 2 construction, which is to be completed before Lunar New Year in February next year, she said.
Taiwanese international flight operators would be granted priority access to the new parking facilities, she said.
Compared with the third terminal project, the airport company has made relatively slower progress on the third runway project, Pi said.
There are still 600 civilian homes on properties designated for the new runway, she said.
An agreement between the Civil Aviation Administration, the Taoyuan City Government and land owners stipulated that relocation was to begin in December last year, Pi said.
However, relocation was postponed to November next year, she said.
“We cannot suspend water and power supplies on the properties as long as one of the homes is there. After the homes are completely relocated, we still need at least six more years to build the runway,” Pi said, adding that the runway project would be delayed for 23 months as a result.
The company initially set a goal of completing the third runway by 2030.
“We are revising our plan and trying to work on one small property at a time,” she said.
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