CAA studies plan to add runway at Hengchun airport

This article was published by the Microview Weekly on August 15, 2007. It reports that according to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) in Taiwan, the government agency is studying the feasibility of building another runway at the Wuliting Airport in Hengchun in the southernmost Pingtung County.

According to the CAA, during the winter, there are always strong winds in Hengchun, creating uncertainty factors for the landing and taking off of airplanes.

That is why the CAA is studying the feasibility of building another runway perpendicular to the original one to help airplanes overcome the strong wind problem.

According to the CAA, the airport cost around NT$539 million (US$16.33 million) to build and that initial estimates put the price tag for constructing another runway at NT$1 billion (US$30.3 million).

The money will be chiefly spent on the purchase of peripheral land and on coordinating with the state-owned Taiwan Power Co. to shift a high-pressure electric line underground.

CAA officials said that the Hengchun airport was inaugurated in January 2004 to help relieve traffic congestion at the nearby Kengting park during holiday periods.

Three airlines -- UNI Airways Corp., Trans Asia Airways and Mandarin Airlines -- originally offered flight services between Hengchun and Taipei and between Taichung and Taitung daily. However, because the air passenger occupancy rate averaged less than 40 percent during the past two years, the number of flights has gradually been cut.