The Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan today (14th) invited the Ministry of Transportation to make a special report on "Reshaping the Military and Civil Aviation Functions of National Airports with the Relocation of Songshan Airport and the Expansion of Taichung Airport." The Ministry of Transportation pointed out in its latest written report that the current main domestic aircraft model is the ATR-72. If you take off and land at Taoyuan Airport, you must use the remote apron and shuttle bus to check in, which will increase the time for passengers to transfer, baggage pick-up and movement within the airport. Passengers need to reserve at least one hour longer than going to Songshan Airport to arrive. This will increase the transportation time and transfer burden for residents of outlying islands and eastern areas to and from Taipei city for medical treatment.
The Ministry of Transport emphasized that Songshan Airport is an international business airport in the capital and a domestic air transport service hub, and has important functions such as emergency medical treatment and disaster relief. In view of the fact that Songshan Airport is an important and critical infrastructure of the country and shoulders important responsibilities such as civil aviation, urban development, transportation rights and interests of residents on outlying islands, and national disaster relief and disaster relief. Any public policy related to the country's medium and long-term development should be carefully considered from the overall perspective of the country before there is a specific solution.
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The Ministry of Transportation explained that the current major construction of Taoyuan Airport is to promote the development of Taoyuan Airport into an East Asia hub airport. International passenger traffic has reached 47.8 million passengers in 2014, exceeding the overall annual capacity of 42.8 million passengers. From January to August 2015, it reached 34.47 million passengers, and it is expected to exceed 50 million passengers throughout the year. As national and foreign airlines continue to increase routes and flights, traffic volume will continue to increase.
The report mentioned that according to the "Taoyuan International Airport Park Outline Plan" approved by the Executive Yuan in 2015, with the growth of post-epidemic recovery traffic, it is estimated that Taoyuan Airport's passenger volume will reach 83.8 million passengers and cargo volume will reach 3.85 million tons in 2045 , the transfer ratio will reach 25%; in order to cope with the growth of international passengers and freight and strengthen the function of an international transfer hub, Taoyuan Airport is actively building a third terminal, which is expected to be opened by the end of next year (116). The construction of the third runway is also being continued.
The Ministry of Transportation pointed out that the relevant facilities of Taoyuan Airport (including boarding and ground handling operations, etc.) are designed according to the international line, and the operation of small and medium-sized aircraft and helicopters on the domestic line will be increased. Passengers and cargo must be separated from the international line, which will affect the efficiency of airside operations. In addition, the domestic line of Songshan Airport is mainly propeller aircraft, and there are general aviation and air service corps helicopters, which are all slow-speed aircraft. There is a speed difference with the international line of Taoyuan Airport, which are mostly jets. Mixed use will have an impact on the efficiency of runway takeoff and landing.
The report also pointed out that Songshan Airport has a total area of about 213 hectares and is a military-civilian airport. The Civil Aviation Administration of China owns about 89 hectares of land (about 41%), and the remaining 59% of the land is owned by the military. Songshan Airport is an important domestic hub in the country. In recent years, the domestic round-trip traffic has accounted for about 50% of the country. Among them, about 2.39 million passengers traveled to and from the three outlying islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu in 2014, accounting for 92%. The rest were trips to and from the eastern region. The traffic demand during the New Year period was 1.5 times the usual.
The Ministry of Transportation also mentioned that medical referrals in outlying islands and eastern areas are highly dependent on Songshan Airport. According to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of people coming to Taiwan for medical treatment in outlying islands in 2014 was 38,651, and there is a large demand for critical illness referrals every year. According to statistics, there are 9 major emergency hospitals across the country that can be reached within 10 to 15 minutes by car from the airport. They are all around Songshan Airport, which is the base with the highest reliance on medical referrals in outlying islands.
The Ministry of Transportation also stated that the two airports in the north can increase flight backup and scheduling options. Taoyuan Airport is mainly developed as an international passenger, cargo and transfer hub, and Songshan Airport is close to Taipei City, which facilitates residents on outlying islands to travel to the north and connect with medical services, and serves as a gateway to the northern region. In the event of weather or other special circumstances when services cannot be provided, they can provide backup for each other, strengthen safety resilience, and improve the adaptability of the overall air transportation system.
The report also pointed out that it is a major trend for international metropolitan areas to meet the diverse needs of cities through the division of labor at multiple airports. For example, metropolitan areas such as Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, London, and New York serve different air routes and passenger needs through multiple airports. Therefore, in the northern region of Taiwan, there is a complementary division of labor between Taoyuan International Airport and Songshan Airport, which can take into account international competitiveness and overall air transportation capacity.
As for Taichung Airport, the Ministry of Transportation stated that after reviewing the recovery trend of traffic volume after the epidemic, it will adopt a steady development strategy and continue to review the expansion development possibilities and launch timing of Yangxi District on a rolling basis. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has launched the Taichung Airport 2045 overall plan and evaluated the third terminal and other construction plans, with a view to further upgrading the service quality and travel energy of Taichung Airport.
