Archives

Taoyuan international airport gets face-lift

MOTC Minister Mao Chih-kuo believes that Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new design and expanded services will appeal to visitors. (CNA)

• Publication Date：07/19/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  Meg Chang

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is on track to becoming a multifunctional facility creating tremendous business opportunities for the local tourism and transportation sectors, according to ROC Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chih-kuo.

“The first stage of the redevelopment program will give terminal 1 a complete face-lift,” Mao said July 18 while conducting an inspection tour of the airport.

Work on stage one, which commenced in 2009, is expected to be finished in two months, adding 13,200 square meters of floor space. Around 50 percent of this will be used for duty-free shops, food courts, gourmet restaurants and specialty stores.

The project is part of a 20-year MOTC-overseen plan to transform the facility into a world-class airport and promote Taiwan as a top-flight Asian transportation hub.

Mao said the MOTC plan comprises a comprehensive overhaul of the airport, as well as the addition of a third terminal and runway. “If everything goes as planned, construction of the new terminal should begin in two years with completion scheduled for 2018,” he added.

Once the third runway becomes operational in 2020, the airport will be able to handle 43 million passengers a year, or 1.4 times its current capacity, the MOTC said.

The expansion is part of the ROC government’s Taoyuan aerotropolis project. The NT$67 billion infrastructure program includes the upgraded airport, a free trade zone and international medical center. (JSM)

Write to Meg Chang at sfchang@mail.mofa.gov.tw