TAIWAN’S Taoyuan International Airport will receive a NT$463 billion (US$15.4 billion) boost in operational capacity with the addition of a new terminal, which is expected to be ready in 2018, according to Agence France-Presse.
Once the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project is complete, the airport is expected to be able to handle 75 million passengers a year. Work on the new terminal is slated to begin in 2014, with a NT$50 million budget.
Facilities will also be upgraded to include an aerospace industrial park and special zones for cargo and logistics, said Taiwan’s transportation ministry.
The project is expected to reap NT$2.3 trillion in economic benefits, create 260,000 jobs and add NT$84 billion in taxes to government coffers.
Plans for the airport’s makeover were first tabled five years ago, in the hopes of Taiwan catching up to its Asian neighbours, but were stalled in the face of budget constraints and land acquisition problems.
Taiwan has seen a growing influx of tourists from the Chinese mainland after relaxing travel controls in 2008. The island welcomed 1.8 million Chinese visitors last year, exacerbating the need for better infrastructure to handle the stream of tourists.
According to Taiwan’s tourism bureau, the country received a record 6.08 million international visitors in 2011, compared to 5.5 million the year before.
