A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday.
The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning.
Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction, the apron would also ease parking space for cargo planes, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
“More cargo planes are heading to the US now, particularly during the Lunar New Year holiday, after Taiwan and the US concluded tariff negotiations last week. In addition to passenger jets, we need parking facilities for cargo jets during the busiest time of the year,” he said, adding that the apron would enhance the efficiency of cargo transportation at the airport.
The new parking apron would also bolster the airport’s resilience during natural disasters and emergency situations, as it offers additional parking spaces for aircraft that are grounded because of typhoons or other extreme weather conditions, Chen said.
Activating the use of the new temporary apron is also urgent as the nation’s three large international carriers — China Airlines, EVA Airways and Starlux Airlines — would collectively bring in 22 new aircraft this year, he said.
Taoyuan airport can accommodate 150 aircraft on regular nights, operator Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said.
The collective long-haul fleets of China Airlines, EVA and Starlux are expected to surpass those of Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Airlines this year, which would be a major milestone, TIAC said.
The builder of the temporary parking apron adopted a dual-machine synchronized paving method, achieving daily paving capacity of 1,811m3 and reducing the number of requisite workers by five to eight times compared with traditional manual construction, the state-run company said.
TIAC staff also briefed Chen on the progress of the third runway project, which includes the runway, satellite concourses, an aircraft maintenance zone and new cargo terminal and other core facilities.
Construction of the third runway began on Sept. 16, 2023, and, as of Jan. 3, 66.9 percent of the project had been completed.
Construction west of the runway was launched at the end of last year, the company said.
The runway and its taxiways are all to be constructed with rigid pavement, extending the design service life from 20 to 30 years, the TIAC said, adding that it is designed to withstand a 100-year storm event.
In high-fill areas, preloading techniques combined with settlement plates were used to ensure ground stability through precise monitoring, it added.
The project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2030, covers 860 hectares, including 581 hectares that the airport company additionally acquired for the project.
The budget for the project is NT$37.456 billion (US$1.18 billion). Constructions of the main runway and east of the runway are to be outsourced to contractors this year.
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