Taoyuan International Airport Corp is planning to build a smaller terminal prior to the construction of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal Three to cope with a rapid increase in the number of passengers arriving in the nation.
The airport’s Terminal One and Terminal Two have a combined capacity of 32 million passengers per year. However, the airport’s passenger volume last year topped 35 million and is estimated to exceed 40 million this year.
Although there are already plans to build Terminal Three, construction is not expected to be completed until 2020. The company has also begun a project to expand the area of Terminal Two, which is scheduled to be completed in 2017.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
While the Terminal Two expansion project is to increase the facility’s capacity by 5 million passengers per year, the firm said further expansions are needed, as it estimates that the number of passengers serviced by the airport is to grow at a pace of about 10 percent per year.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Chien-yu (陳建宇) yesterday confirmed that a smaller Terminal Four is to be built first, adding that the airport had already briefed the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Executive Yuan about its preliminary plan and is ironing out the details of the project.
According to the company, the increase in passenger volume at the airport in recent years was caused by a rise in the number of tourists arriving in the nation via direct cross-strait flights.
Meanwhile, more Taiwanese have been encouraged to go abroad by a growing number of countries offering visa-waiver programs to travelers from Taiwan.
The company said that it would use the space occupied by Terminal One’s parking lot to build Terminal Four, which is projected to be able to service 5 million travelers per year and accommodate four narrow-body aircraft and one wide-body airplane simultaneously.
While the capacity of Terminal Three is projected to reach 45 million passengers per year by 2042, the firm estimated that 86 million travelers will pass through the airport yearly by 2042, necessitating the construction of Terminal Four to help meet demand.
The company plans for Terminal Four to employ an automated system to automatically adjust lighting and air-conditioning based on the number of passengers inside the terminal.
The company has yet to decide whether to relocate some airlines from Terminals One and Two to Terminal Four, or to allow budget airlines to use the new structure.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS