At this year’s Taoyuan Airport Forum in Taipei yesterday, speakers focused on the airport’s continuing evolution, from improving the passenger experience to green energy goals.
Officials from Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC), the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and international guests all highlighted the efforts made by the airport as it adapts to global trends.
TIAC has invested NT$5.2 billion (US$160 million) on 22 projects to improve efficiency and services, Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MOTC) Chief Secretary Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) said.
Photo courtesy of Taoyuan International Airport Corp
The airport, the gateway to Taiwan for most international travelers, is working to improve the passenger experience, with services remaining unaffected during the construction period, she added.
The airport is also improving conditions for its employees, Huang said, citing its recent decision to offer elderly care services for employees’ family members.
The airport has expanded its network of international partners to 240 and is ready to continue its positive sustainable development to connect Taiwan to the world, TIAC Vice President Lee Chun-te (李俊德) said.
Last year, Taoyuan airport joined more than 50 other airports from the region in pledging net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Airports Council International (ACI) Director General of Asia-Pacific and Middle East Stefano Baronci said.
Taoyuan airport is also part of ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation program, he added.
Baronci also highlighted emerging technology like artificial intelligence and “smart” infrastructure as areas of important future development that airports around the world are focused on.
“There is value in connectivity,” he said in response to a question about the airport’s future development, adding that there is potential for the airport to expand its personalized services to passengers as a way of enhancing travel experiences.
Kansai Airport CEO Yoshiyuki Yamaya spoke on his airport’s moves to lessen its environmental impact, such as solar panels, hydrogen-powered vehicles, and decreasing its water usage.
Taoyuan International Airport special report
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test