By the end of next year, Kaohsiung Xiaogang International Airport will add a three-dimensional parking lot on the east side and more parking spaces. The Kaohsiung City Government and citizens still hope to lift the airport curfew and operate it around the clock, but the Civil Aviation Administration has given a soft nail and made it clear that the curfew will be maintained to maintain the quality of life of nearby people.
Economic development has driven the demand for tourism and business air transport, and various airports are facing expansion needs. Taoyuan Airport currently has Terminals 1 and 2. The North Hall of Terminal 3 was opened last year, and the South Hall and the main terminal are under construction. Taichung International Airport, an important entry and exit gateway for more than 7 million people in Central Taiwan, is facing The number of passengers has increased significantly and there is an urgent need for expansion. However, due to restrictions on military-civilian use, the development plan formulated five years ago has only completed the overall improvement of the existing terminal and the construction of new connections and apron taxiways. Kaohsiung Xiaogang International Airport will add a three-dimensional parking lot on the east side and more parking spaces by the end of next year.
The ongoing terminal construction at Kaohsiung Xiaogang Airport consists of phases 2 and 4, and the first phase will be completed next year. All four phases will be completed in 2040. The A and B corridors will be rebuilt and the C corridor will be built to maximize the number of parking spaces to 46. The international line capacity will reach 14.9 million passengers a year, and the domestic line capacity will reach 1.6 million passengers.
The curfew at Xiaogang Airport has blocked many flights, such as long-haul routes to Europe and the United States, low-cost airline red-eye flights, and cargo plane takeoff and landing periods. The output value and cargo demand of many southern science parks have soared year by year. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chimai and local representatives have repeatedly called for the lifting of the curfew. He Shuping, director of the Civil Aviation Administration, said that major airports in many countries also have curfews due to noise and the demand of residents around the airport to improve their quality of life. The same reason applies to the curfew at Xiaogang Airport.
There are also local voices hoping to build a new airport. He Shuping pointed out that whether it is on land or on land reclamation, in addition to technology, there are also sea depth, environmental protection and ICAO regulations. It will take about 5 to 10 years to make a "wind rose chart". Reclamation and land reclamation require stratigraphic analysis, which is very complicated. "The most important thing is whether the new airport can be sustainable and resilient." We will continue to evaluate from these aspects.
Lin Guoxian, deputy director of the Ministry of Transportation, said that Xiaogang Airport’s domestic routes only have outlying islands and Huadong. It needs to transform and adjust the capacity of domestic routes to welcome more international passengers. After future expansion, it can accommodate more international flights; renovation and new construction projects will connect the Kaohsiung MRT Red Line and the terminal channel to make it more convenient for passengers.
Kaohsiung Xiaogang Airport has become increasingly popular in recent years. The number of aircraft takeoffs and landings has increased from 40,516 in 2023 to 59,057 last year, and 37,643 from January to July this year; the number of passengers has increased from 4,225,403 in 2023 to 6,971,162 last year, and from January to July this year, there have been a total of 4,731,610 passengers.
The Civil Aviation Administration of the Ministry of Transportation stated that major international airports Songshan, Taichung, and Kaohsiung will, in principle, undergo "overall planning" revisions every five years. Currently, the 2045 system plan has been submitted to the Executive Yuan for review; the 2045 overall plans for Songshan, Taichung, and Kaohsiung airports are currently under continuous review and revision in accordance with the established schedule, and will be submitted in accordance with the procedures after completion.
