Profitable in the pandemic
Taipei airport in expansion mode. As the planners at Taipei Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) expect the hub’s traffic volume to rise further they’ve adopted a decisive expansion course. The facility’s new T3 terminal is part of its infrastructure of the future. On top of this there are numerous other projects that have expressly been designed to transform Taiwan into a regional airfreight hub with a global reach.
According to the managers of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), in Taipei, the hub’s new T3 terminal is set to open in three stages, starting in 2024. The USD 3 billion terminal is “badly needed”, as Lin Kuo-Shian, the chairman of the Taoyuan International Airport Corporation (TIAC), a government-owned entity in charge of managing TPE airport, told the ITJ. The airport already exceeded the nominal annual capacity of its existing terminals as long ago as 2019.
Lin explained that whilst there was a sharp drop in passenger traffic during the pandemic, and thus the overall volume of belly-hold capacities fell, airfreight developed completely differently. “Thanks to strong growth in exports, Taiwan actually boosted its air cargo traffic during the pandemic. This is crucial for the national economy,” according to Lin, who hopes that more people and goods from neighbouring countries will transfer through TPE.
Warehousing and transport links
The last three years saw the largest volumes ever registered at TPE. Lin said that cargo at the airport is expected to exceed 4 million t in 2040. Now two major projects have been inaugurated to help the hub manage an increase of more than 1 million t of airfreight. Its record (2.812 million t) dates from 2021.
The airport is set to develop a new 100 ha air cargo park and a second free-trade port northeast of the airport. “These projects, scheduled to be completed in 2030, will be the twin engines powering TPE’s future air cargo growth,” Lin explained, before adding that “the park has been designed to focus on warehousing, smart technology and automation, with central management replacing the current decentralised model.”
TIAC will draft management norms and standards that regulate vehicle connections and the entering and exiting of warehouses and loading docks. In response to ever-growing demand for cross-border and cold-chain logistics, TIAC will install equipment, such as express storage facilities and temperature-controlled warehouses, and will urge incoming businesses to acquire the relevant international certificates.
TIAC’s chairman also pointed out that the planned 1A national freeway to the east of the airport will enable vehicles to reach the maritime port of Taipei in just 15 minutes in future. Lin calls it TPE’s ‘sea-jet one’ connection – a combined sea and air service that will shorten cargo transport times and raise efficiency. The objective, he said, is to turn Taiwan into an important transhipment, logistics and added-value base in East Asia.
“TPE made the best of the pandemic to push the progress of renovation projects,” Lin pointed out, highlighting the resurfacing of the south and the north runways. Expanding the hub to the north, including constructing a third runway, will further increase capacity for takeoffs and landings.
Moving up the rankings
TPE officials pointed out that the airport’s growing importance can be seen from its ranking in ACI’s list of freight hubs, where it ranked sixth in 2019, and fourth in 2020 and 2021. “Our advantages vis-à-vis other regional airports include our central location, connecting eastern north Asia to eastern south Asia and Oceania. Our home carriers have developed a dense network to and from China, Europe and North America,” the chairman further elaborated.
On top of this, the carriers Eva Air and China Airlines and the ground handler Evergreen Airline Services Corporation have obtained CEIV Pharma certification. “Lockdowns and working from home have also boosted the importance and export volumes of Taiwan’s semiconductor and 3C industries,” Lin closed.