Taiwan’s international air passenger volume is forecast to reach 62.34 million this year, which would surpass pre-COVID 19 pandemic levels, as airlines have expanded their fleets and the number of long weekends has increased, the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday.
The international winter flight schedule shows that airlines operate flights to 107 destinations worldwide, with an average of 2,981 flights available per week, CAA Director-General Ho Shu-ping (何淑萍) said at a ceremony in Taipei to mark the agency’s 79th anniversary.
The number exceeds the 2,857 weekly international flights on the summer schedule last year and the 2,957 weekly flights in 2019, Ho said.
Photo courtesy of Taoyuan International Airport Corp
Taiwan’s international air passenger volume was 58.33 million last year, while it was 59.92 million in 2019, CAA data showed.
The rapid recovery of the nation’s international air traffic was also facilitated by airlines expanding their capacity through acquisition of new aircraft and an increase in the number of flights, as well as government incentives, she said.
Several factors are expected to boost the growth momentum in the air transport market this year, including robust air traffic demand in the Asia-Pacific region, new aircraft deliveries to carriers, the launch last month of the north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s under-construction third terminal, and revised aviation pacts with Italy and Finland, she said.
Flights to Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, Europe, North America and Southeast Asia last year surpassed the levels of before the pandemic, the CAA data showed.
Flights to the Middle East were up 214 percent compared with 2019, while there were increases of 140 percent for North America, and 125 percent to Japan and South Korea, the data showed.
Flights to Hong Kong and Macau were 89 percent of pre-pandemic levels, while they were at 51 percent for mainland China, the data showed.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) said that airlines have taken full advantage of the “open sky” policy in the US and Japan, while there are about 200 flights serving areas in Japan and South Korea each week.
People flying from North America would have no trouble transferring in Taiwan to Northeast and Southeast Asia, Lin said.
“We had 6.8 million transit passengers last year and the number is expected to grow,” he said. “We hope that airlines would seize the business opportunities presented by the growth of transit passengers by combining long-haul and short-haul flights.”
Revenue at Taoyuan airport’s free trade zone is expected to top NT$6 trillion (US$189.83 billion) this year, exceeding NT$5 trillion last year and NT$900 billion in 2019, he said.
China Airlines and Starlux Airlines have launched direct flights between Taipei and Phoenix, Arizona, the CAA said.
Starlux yesterday said that it is to launch its first flights serving Europe this year, as well as a service between Taichung and Kumamoto airport, which would make it the only carrier offering flights to the Japanese city from central Taiwan.
Starlux’s Taichung-Kumamoto route would start on March 31, operating three round-trip flights per week to Kyushu Prefecture, the airline said.
Airbus A321neo aircraft would be used for the route, it said in a statement.
Starlux chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said that Kumamoto is a key transportation hub in Kyushu, and is rich in natural and cultural resources, while also being a key player in the Japanese semiconductor industry.
Starlux operates flights from Taichung to Japan’s Kobe, Okinawa and Takamatsu; Macau; and Vietnam’s Da Nang and Phu Quoc Island.
The airline is to launch additional routes from Taichung to Okinawa’s Miyako Island on Feb. 13 and to Tokyo on March 30, it said.
Meanwhile, EVA Airways this month announced that it would launch direct flights between Taipei and Washington in the middle of the year.
Despite the advances, Taiwan’s civil aviation industry faces challenges, including a shortage of aircraft inspectors, an increase in military exercises affecting flights by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, renovation work at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and Kaohsiung International Airport, and construction of the third runway at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Lin said.
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