Taiwan Taoyuan airport wins global recognition

2016/03/04

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is the second best facility of its kind in the 25 million to 40 million passenger service global category for the second consecutive year, according to Montreal-based Airports Council International.

TTIA is also the third best airport in the 20 million-plus passenger Asia-Pacific category as assessed by ACI in its annual Airport Service Quality survey released Feb. 29.

David Fei, president of facility operator Taoyuan International Airport Corp., said the recognition is a strong vote of confidence in TTIA efforts to deliver enhanced user experiences.

One example is the reopening in late December 2015 of the north runway, which can accommodate a fully loaded Airbus A380. Along with the south runway, TTIA’s handling capacity will increase from 30 to 50 flights per hour for an overall on-time ratio to 98 percent.

The improved north runway saw TTIA added late last year to the list of A380 destinations serviced by Emirates. The Dubai-based airline will be the first to fly the double-decker aircraft to TTIA when it commences direct daily flights in May.

Other projects in the pipeline include the expansion of Terminal 2 starting next month, as well as inauguration of the TTIA metro and construction of a smart terminal later this year. Plans for a full-service, 45 million passenger-capacity third terminal are underway, with construction of a third runway scheduled to begin 2020.

In addition, a TTIA- Munich International Airport memorandum of understanding inked earlier this month should pave the way for greater collaboration and exchanges between the two facilities.

ROC Ministry of Transportation and Communications data revealed that TTIA served 38.47 million passengers in 2015, up 7.45 percent from the year before. This is expected to top 86 million by 2042 on the back of expansion projects.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=242633&ctNode=2194&mp=9)