| Taipei International Airport (Songshan Airport) 臺北國際航空站 |
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| IATA: TSA – ICAO: RCSS
TSA
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public & Military | ||
| Operator | Civil Aeronautics Administration Ministry of National Defense |
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| Serves | Taipei | ||
| Location | Songshan District, Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan) | ||
| Hub for | |||
| Elevation AMSL | 5 m / 18 ft | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 10/28 | 2,605 | 8,547 | Paved |
| Statistics (2007) | |||
| Number of passengers | 4,470,859 | ||
| Total Cargo (metric tonnes) | 13,115.3 | ||
| Taipei Songshan Airport | |||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 臺北松山機場 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 台北松山机场 | ||||||||||
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Taipei Songshan Airport or Taipei Sungshan Airport (IATA: TSA, ICAO: RCSS) (Chinese: 臺北松山機場) is a midsize commercial airport and military airbase located in Songshan, Taipei, Taiwan. The airport covers an area of 182 hectares (1.82 km2).[1]
The civilian portion of Songshan Airport, formerly Taipei International Airport (Chinese: 臺北國際航空站; pinyin: Táiběi Gúojì Hángkōngzhàn), has scheduled flights serving Taiwan, mainland China, and Japan, with almost all international flights out of the Taipei area served by Taoyuan International Airport.
Songshan Airport is also the base of certain Republic of China Air Force units, formerly the Songshan Air Force Base (Chinese: 空軍松山基地). The Songshan Base Command's main mission is to serve the President and Vice President of the Republic of China.
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The airport was built in 1936 with its origins as a Japanese military airbase, the Matsuyama Airdrome, during Japanese rule. After World War II, in 1946, it was taken over by the Republic of China Air Force.[2] Before the end of the Chinese Civil War and the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the airport provided flight routes between Shanghai and Taipei, occasionally via Fuzhou.[2]
Shared military and civilian use—both domestic and international—began on April 16, 1950[3] in the reconstructed Civil Aeronautics Administration Taipei Airport (Chinese: 交通部民用航空局台北航空站).[2] Domestic destinations have been Kaohsiung, Hualien, Taichung, Makung, and Tainan. The first international destinations were Seattle, Tokyo, Pusan, Manila, Bangkok, and Hong Kong.[2] The first international airlines included Northwest Airlines, Pan American Airlines, and Hong Kong Airways (now Cathay Pacific). Later, the airport became too small to handle an increased number of passengers, even after a series of expansions. This later worsened when new wide-body jets became common at the airport.[2] Therefore, all international activities were relocated to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (now Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport) after its inauguration on February 26, 1979.[2][4] Consequently, the passenger load at the airport dropped from 6.2 million in 1978 to 2.9 million in 1979 (a 53% decrease).[5] At its peak in 1997, the airport handled over 15.3 million passengers annually.
Service to Taichung and Chiayi was stopped in mid-2007 after the load factor dropped significantly due to Taiwan High Speed Rail start of revenue service in January 2007. Passenger volume decreased from 6.7 million in 2006 to 4.4 million in 2007 (a 34% decrease).[5] Also due to the opening of the high speed rail line, on March 1, 2008, Uni Air suspended its service to Kaohsiung, while Far Eastern Air Transport suspended its service to Tainan.[6] TransAsia Airways decided to stop flights to Tainan and Kaohsiung after August 1, 2008.[7][8]
In early 1999 when the construction of Taipei 101 had just started, Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration changed this airport's certain SID and STAR procedures to avoid possible collision with the building. The 677-meter Fuxing North Road Underground Passage (復興北路車行地下道) was constructed between 1997 and 2006 under this airport's runway to link the north and south side of this airport.[9]
Regular cross-strait charter flights to mainland China started on July 4, 2008, with Songshan receiving the majority of flights.[10] Direct flights to mainland China were an issue of contention. Then-mayor Ma Ying-jeou had been pressing to make Songshan Airport Taipei's main cross-strait terminal, citing that its location close to the city center would make it preferable for business travelers. However, building height restrictions around the airport raised concerns about flight safety, blocking of radio communications, noise pollution, and a reduced number of flights.[11]
The adjacent, unused Terminal 2 was refurbished to accommodate arriving flights while the main Terminal, now Terminal 1, was rearranged to handle increased passenger traffic.[10] On March 29, 2011, the renovated Terminal 2 was re-opened to handle domestic flights.[12]
Songshan Airport is seen to have the potential to attract business travelers within Pacific Asia due to its location in downtown Taipei. Flights to Bangkok-Don Mueang, Jakarta-Halim, Kuala Lumpur-Subang Airport, Nagoya-Komaki, Osaka-Itami, Seoul-Gimpo,[13] Shanghai-Hongqiao, and Tokyo-Haneda[13] are especially attractive since these airports are also in the central areas of their respective cities, and all these cities have larger far flung international airports. The airport is currently in the process of expansion to better accommodate international flights.[14]
This kind of "city-to-city" flights have already been established between Seoul-Gimpo and Tokyo-Haneda, and between Shanghai-Hongqiao and Tokyo-Haneda. Seoul to Tokyo direct flights in particular, take only 1/3 the total travel time over their international counterparts (from 4.5 hrs to 1.5), when ground transport is included.
On March 6, 2009, Japan and Taiwan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the revision of Taiwan-Japan bilateral traffic. Four carriers (EVA Air, China Airlines, Japan Airlines and ANA) will be able to operate from Songshan Airport to Tokyo-Haneda.
In December 2009, an affirmative schedule for the route between Tokyo-Haneda and Taipei-Songshan was announced.[15] Starting in October, 2010, EVA Air, China Airlines, Japan Airlines, and ANA will each operate two flights a day from Taipei-Songshan to Tokyo-Haneda,[15] with China Airlines and EVA Air using the A330-300 and the A330-200 respectively. Japan Airlines and ANA are expected to operate this route with the Boeing 767.
On June 14, 2010, direct flights between Taipei-Songshan and Shanghai-Hongqiao began.[16] Each week has 28 flights, served by China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Air China, China Airlines, EVA Air, and TransAsia Airways. The airport will undergo upgrades to its runway and reduce its jet bridge from eight to six (due to lack of space) to accommodate Airbus A330 and Boeing 767.[17]
The continuing growth of Taipei City means that Songshan airport is nowadays situated in the heart of downtown. Compared to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Songshan Airport saves travelers about 30 minutes due to its location inside Taipei City's central business district, but the city suffers from the noise, pollution, restrictions on urban planning, and traffic congestion the airport brings about. In the 2002 and 2006 Taipei Mayor Election DPP candidates Ying-yuan Lee and Frank Hsieh both proposed the plan to close Songshan Airport, and developed its land into road, huge park, detention basin and sports arena, since the Taiwan High Speed Rail could quickly take up the traffic load between Taipei and western Taiwan cities, and the remaining service to outlying islands and eastern Taiwan could be easily taken over by the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after the completion of Taoyuan International Airport Access MRT System in early 2014. Also, the MRT system will make the international potential of Songshan airport less attractive.
The Songshan Airport closing proposal was deferred under the Taipei City Government which has long been dominated by the Pan-Blue Coalition, who prefers the downtown airport connection concept with Beijing, Seoul, and Tokyo.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air China | Shanghai-Hongqiao |
| All Nippon Airways | Tokyo-Haneda |
| China Airlines | Shanghai-Hongqiao, Tokyo-Haneda |
| China Eastern Airlines | Shanghai-Hongqiao |
| EVA Air | Shanghai-Hongqiao, Tokyo-Haneda |
| Far Eastern Air Transport | Kinmen, Makung |
| Japan Airlines | Tokyo-Haneda |
| Mandarin Airlines | Kaohsiung, Kinmen, Makung, Taitung |
| Shanghai Airlines | Shanghai-Hongqiao, Shanghai-Pudong |
| Sichuan Airlines | Chengdu, Chongqing |
| TransAsia Airways | Chongqing, Fuzhou, Hefei, Kaohsiung, Kinmen, Makung, Shanghai-Hongqiao, Shanghai-Pudong, Tianjin, Wuhan |
| Uni Air | Hengchun, Kinmen, Makung, Matsu-Beigan, Matsu-Nangan, Pingtung, Taitung, Xiamen |
| Xiamen Airlines | Fuzhou, Xiamen |
Due to the introduction of cross-strait flights and future international potential, the airport is undergoing extensive renovations, the first phase of which is expected to be completed by October 2010.[23] The second and third phase renovations are expected to be completed by March and October 2011, respectively. However, as of November 2011 renovations are still in progress. A new international cargo terminal is being built in anticipation of a new air route between Taiwan and Japan.[24]
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