Air traffic back to normal at Taoyuan International Airport after days of mass disruptio

Air traffic back to normal at Taoyuan International Airport after days of mass disruptio

2024-03-05

Air traffic is back to normal at Taoyuan International Airport, after repairs on its southern runway wrapped up on Monday evening. Originally the repairs were supposed to end on Tuesday, but after hundreds of flight disruptions through the previous two days, the transport ministry gave an order to speed up the project. On Tuesday, lawmakers from several parties weighed in on the fiasco, criticizing the unpreparedness of the airport.

The check-in counter is packed. Runway repairs at Taoyuan International Airport have disrupted many flights over the past two days. Now that work has finally wrapped up, planes are once again taking off and landing on the repaired southern runway. Both runways at the airport are open again, but some passengers remain concerned.

Traveler
I’m the kind of person who’d rather be prepared, so I came here one hour earlier.

Traveler
I was afraid my flight would be affected.

Some arrived extra early to the airport in case their flight got disrupted. The runway repairs have become a hot topic in Taiwan. Originally the work had been scheduled to close the runway for 54 hours, from March 3 to March 5. But after an order was given to speed up the process, the construction work was completed by 9 p.m. on March 4, 19 hours ahead of schedule. And that’s not the end of the matter.

Lin Szu-ming
KMT lawmaker
Taoyuan International Airport is the gateway to Taiwan. How come there was such a major oversight? All we can say is that the Taoyuan International Airport Corporation and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications have a screw loose. It’s ludicrous. Could it be that there are major problems with the management of the airport? In four years it has dropped 69 spots in international rankings.

Hung Meng-kai
KMT lawmaker
We’ve seen negligence in management, mismanagement, and no planning for foreseeable disasters. Someone must take political responsibility for this.

Wang Kwo-tsai
Transport minister
Runway maintenance is a very important part of aviation safety. Taoyuan International Airport operates 24 hours a day, so runway maintenance will inevitably affect some flights. Though we had discussed the matter with airlines, passengers were not informed, so passengers had big complaints.

Rosalia Wu
DPP lawmaker
The Taoyuan International Airport Corporation shouldn’t hide behind the transport ministry. They should take responsibility. When it comes to routine runway repairs, they can’t just issue an announcement and call it a day.

Lawmakers from the KMT and DPP have voiced criticism of how the repairs were handled, stressing that, as the gateway to Taiwan, the airport shapes many people’s impression of the country.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

跑道歲修釀航班大亂! 藍綠齊轟桃機公司檢討負責

2024-03-05

桃園機場前兩天進行南跑道歲修工程，釀成航班大亂、塞機潮。昨天(4)晚間工程加速完成、提早開放跑道，目前已經恢復正常雙向通行。不過事後檢討工作藍綠立委都緊盯，國民黨喊話要有人負起政治責任、民進黨也要求桃機公司別躲在交通部背後。交通部長王國材則是下令檢討。

報到櫃檯人潮滿滿，歷經兩天航班大亂，桃園機場終於恢復正常，南跑道上可以看見飛機起降，恢復雙跑道運行旅客還是怕怕的。

[[旅客]]
“基本上會有這種預期的心態，然後會提前大約一個小時出發”

[[旅客]]
“擔心會影響到航班，

就怕像前兩天一樣大塞機，旅客提早報到。這一次南跑道歲修工程引發軒然大波，原定從3/3到3/5下午長達54小時封閉跑道的工程，也加快速度在4號晚間9點，提早19個小時開放南跑道。但風波可沒就此結束。

[[立委(國) 林思銘]]
“國際機場是我們國家的門面，竟然可以出這麼大的紕漏，我們只能講桃機公司跟交通部，螺絲真的鬆了，扯到爆，桃機的管理，是不是出現很大的問題，短短4年下降了69名”

[[立委(國) 洪孟楷]]
“管理疏失，管理不當，沒有預先超前部署的人禍，要有人負起政治責任”

[[交通部長王國材]]
“跑道維修是我們航安裡面很重要的一部分，那因為桃園機場，它本身是24小時營運的，所以它的跑道歲修一定會影響到航班，雖然有跟航空公司談過這個事情，可是旅客都不知道這個情形，所以旅客的埋怨也特別大”

[[立委(民) 吳思瑤]]
“桃機公司不要永遠躲在交通部的後方，他們該承擔起的責任，這樣一個歲修跑道，不能只是公告之後就草草了事”

不分藍綠朝野緊盯後續檢討，畢竟國門代表的是台灣國際形象。

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This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

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