The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) yesterday announced that the Executive Yuan had approved a plan to cease operations at Pingtung Airport because of its low usage rate.
CAA statistics show that the airport’s average usage rate is 25 percent. Passengers on domestic flights have dropped by more than 90 percent, from 37,449 in 2007 to 3,552 last year.
People heading to Pingtung can take the high-speed rail or Taiwan Railway Administration service to Tsoying (左營) station and quickly switch to other means of ground transportation from there.
Uni Air is the only carrier offering two-way flight services between Taipei and Pingtung on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays. The carrier uses DASH 8-300 aircraft with a capacity of 56 passengers. The average occupancy rate has hit single-digit figures in recent years.
CAA Deputy Director-General Chen Tien-tsyh (陳天賜) said Uni Air had applied to suspend operations on the Taipei-Pingtung route from Monday.
“We are still awaiting instructions from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which received approval from the Executive Yuan,” Chen said. “The airline also needs time to inform its customers about the change, so it [suspension of flights] could potentially take effect on Aug. 10.”
Chen said there was no plan to close the airport in Hengchun (恆春), Pintung County, which has a usage rate of 30 percent.
He said the government had plans to increase usage of the Hengchun Airport, including allowing ultra-light aircraft to use the airport.
The CAA will also hold discussions with the Ministry of National Defense on relocating a navy base near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Pingtung Airport after the latter is closed.
The CAA could then expropriate the property previously owned by the Taiwanese navy to build a third runway in Taoyuan, he said.
Pingtung Airport began operations in November 1994, with the former Jhonjheng Museum of Arts building in Pingtung County used as the airport’s passenger terminal.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would