A Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) plan to turn Hengchun Airport into an international airport for charter flights would likely be given two years by the Executive Yuan to prove successful, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said yesterday.
MOTC Deputy Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said that the proposal was put forward by the Pingtung County Government and that the airport would remain open.
The local government should be given two years to test if the plan is feasible, Wang said, adding that the airport would serve passengers arriving on charter flights or commercial jets.
The CAA said it is drafting the procedures that international flight passengers arriving at the airport would need to undergo, adding that the security equipment in the airport is still up to international airport standards.
Based on the CAA’s plan, Kaohsiung International Airport would be responsible for sending workers to Hengchun Airport whenever international flights arrive, including customs, immigration, quarantine and security staff.
The plan must be approved by the Executive Yuan before the service is made available, the CAA said.
Located near Kenting National Park, Hengchun Airport was launched in January 2004 and only offers flights between Taipei and Hengchun.
Three carriers were given rights to operate the route, including Mandarin Airlines, TransAsia Airways and Uni Air. However, flights were often canceled because of strong downslope winds.
Since 2007, Uni Air has been the only carrier operating on the route. The airline replaced its Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft with larger ATR 72-600 aircraft on the route.
The airport is unable to accommodate larger airplanes, making the service unfeasible.
No flight arrivals have been recorded at the airport since September 2014, CAA data showed.
Prior to that, arrivals numbers slid from about 23,000 in 2004 to about 11,000 in 2006. The number was down to just 2,448 by 2011, the CAA said.
Despite the lack of arrivals, the CAA still needs to budget for personnel and maintenance costs for Hengchun Airport, which reports annual losses of about NT$60 million (US$1.87 million).
The CAA had planned to shut down the airport and turn the property over to the military, a proposal opposed by the Pingtung County Government.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by