Starting today, more than half of the boarding gates at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are to be closed as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sharp decline in passenger traffic at the nation’s largest airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
Lin spoke to reporters about the ministry’s decision after attending a ceremony in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) to mark the launch of the construction of the Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋).
“Passenger arrivals at the airport have dropped below 1,000 per day. We have been renovating some of the airport’s facilities and would start closing some boarding gates. Passengers would enter and depart through designated gates, which will allow us to save on personnel and maintenance costs,” Lin said.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
Airport facilities that are under renovation include runways and taxiways, as well as restrooms, ceilings and floors inside the terminals, he said, adding that closing 20 of the 38 boarding gates would quicken the pace of renovations.
Asked why the ministry did not choose to close one terminal and leave the other one open, Lin said that shutting down one terminal would prevent airport employees from accessing facilities in the closed terminal.
Airport operator Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said that it would close boarding gates A1 to A5 and B1 to B5 in Terminal One, and C6 to C10 and D6 to D10 in Terminal Two, adding that these gates are located at the far ends of the two terminals.
The remaining 18 gates would function normally, it said.
Not only would the measure meet the current demand, but it would also allow the airport company to more easily adjust usage of the boarding gates, it said, adding that it is a better cost-saving measure than shutting down one of the terminals.
Lin added that the ministry has approved TIAC’s proposed changes to the design of Terminal Three and submitted the proposal to the Executive Yuan for final approval.
If approved by the Cabinet, TIAC would be able to place the project on a public tender by the end of this year, Lin said.
The company has also adjusted the budget for the Terminal Three project from a more practical perspective, Lin said, adding that the exact amount is still being calculated.
The company has kept the design of a cloud-shaped ceiling for the terminal and eliminated some of the more complex details, which would make the terminal easier to build and maintain, Lin said.
It would be the fourth time that TIAC would be placing the project for tender, as the three attempts last year failed to attract any bidders, despite an increase in construction budget.
Under the new proposal, the budget allocated for the Terminal Three and other peripheral constructions would be about NT$95 billion (US$3.15 billion), of which NT$53.7 billion would be used to build the terminal.
Terminal Three would be opened in three stages, with the north concourse scheduled to be completed by 2024, the company said.
The main terminal is scheduled to begin trial operation in 2025, and the south concourse is to be completed by 2026, it said.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS