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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Taoyuan airport flies past peers in passenger growth
WORLD CLASS: Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport ranked No. 1 among 22 main airports worldwide on factors including cleanliness and employee friendliness
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport topped other benchmark airports in Asia last year by achieving double-digit growth in passenger volume thanks to an increase in international flights.
According to a report published by the Taoyuan International Airport Corp （TIAC）, approximately 35.8 million visitors traveled to or transited at the airport last year, representing an 11.15 percent increase.
The airport company estimated that the number could hit 40 million this year.
The airport’s growth in passengers exceeded that of airports in other countries, including Incheon International Airport in South Korea （9.3 percent）, Hong Kong International Airport （5.6 percent）, Narita International Airport in Japan （1 percent） and Singapore Changi Airport （0.8 percent）, the company said.
TIAC senior vice president Weng Yung-sung （溫永松） said that a factor contributing to the growth was that several airlines launched new flight services to a few cities in Asia last year, including Daegu and Muan in South Korea; Changchun, Yantai, Hefei and Wenzhou in China; and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Emirates and VietJet Air began to offer services from Taiwan last year, while US-based United Airlines resumed direct flight service between Taipei and San Francisco, he said.
Weng said the nation also saw an increase in low-cost carriers, including Taiwan-based Tigerair and V Air, which helped boost passenger volume.
Weng added that cargo volume grew by 6.18 percent to 2.08 million tonnes last year, adding that total movements at the airport also rose by 7.53 percent to 208,874 last year. One movement is defined as a landing or takeoff by an aircraft.
Weng said that the Airport Service Council informed the company earlier this month that Taoyuan airport was ranked No. 2 in terms of airport service quality among airports with passenger volume between 25 million and 40 million; an improvement from third place in previous council evaluations.
Among 22 main airports around the world, the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was ranked first in terms of employee friendliness, shopping convenience, comfort in the terminals and airport cleanliness, he said.
Wen said several new facilities would soon be available inside the airport, including a beer bar in Terminal 2. With an airport rail service scheduled to be launched at the end of this year, passengers will soon be able to check in their luggage at Taipei Railway Station before they arrive at the airport, he said.
The airport company also said that several airlines are scheduled to begin offering services from Taiwan, including Indonesia’s AirAsia X, Turkish Airlines and South Korea’s Jeju Air.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
