Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said yesterday that renovation work at Taipei Songshan Airport had been completed in time to welcome the first batch of Chinese tourists arriving via direct cross-strait charter flights this weekend.
Among all the domestic airports open to receive Chinese tourists, Songshan is the only one that has not handled charter flight services.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) started renovating the airport facilities about three weeks ago.
PHOTO: CNA
DRY RUN
Mao made the remark as he made a final inspection of the customs-immigration-quarantine (CIQ) area and other facilities before a dry run today.
The CAA also invited the media and tour guides to accompany Mao and check out the new facilities.
Asked to rate the quality of the facilities, Mao did not give a score and simply said that the public would be the best judge.
Within a month, the CAA has managed to set up partitions separating the walkways for Chinese tourists and domestic tourists.
The CAA’s design shows that Chinese tourists will arrive at gate No. 10 and No. 11 in the airport’s first terminal.
They will then proceed to the CIQ and baggage claim areas in terminal two.
Terminal 1 has a photo wall featuring Taipei 101 and the Chinese characters for “hospitable,” while Terminal 2 has a photo wall featuring the sky lanterns in Pingsi (平溪), Taipei County, and other major tourist attractions in each county.
COMPLAINTS
David Chi (吉星照), a tour guide with Phoenix Tours (鳳凰旅行社), complained that the baggage claim area was not big enough.
He said it might not be easy or convenient for some travelers to have to walk down the steps in the first terminal and walk across the aircraft parking area before reaching the second terminal.
Mao said an inauguration ceremony will be held in Taiwan and China on Friday, where water will be sprayed on the aircraft before they leave on the inaugural flights.
Taiwan has arranged for lion and dragon dance performances to greet the tourists.
SOUVENIR
The Taipei City Government will also give each tourist a small gift as souvenir.
In related news, the CAA announced yesterday that domestic airlines would start raising the fuel surcharge for international flights on July 15.
The fuel surcharge will be adjusted to US$37.5 one-way for flights to other Asian countries. Cross-continental flights, including those to Australia and New Zealand, will have fuel surcharges raised to US$97.5 one-way.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
EARTHQUAKE: Taipei and New Taipei City accused a construction company of ignoring the Circular MRT’s original design, causing sections to shift by up to 92cm The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would seek NT$1.93 billion (US$58.6 million) in compensation from the company responsible for building the Circular MRT Line, following damage sustained during an earthquake in April last year that had shuttered a section for months. BES Engineering Corp, a listed company under Core Pacific Group, was accused of ignoring the original design when constructing the MRT line, resulting in negative shear strength resistance and causing sections of the rail line between Jhonghe (中和) and Banciao (板橋) districts to shift by up to 92cm during the April 3 earthquake. The pot bearings on
RSS