Taoyuan airport planning airport fee hike

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is planning to raise airport charges for airlines, in order to raise more money to fund several major construction projects, the airport's operator said Tuesday.

Airport charges are paid by airlines for the use of airport facilities. They include landing, freight and other charges related to the use of airport infrastructure such as runways and passenger terminals.

According to Taoyuan International Airport Corp., it has not altered its airport charges for the last 15 years, and the planned higher levy remains less costly than those charged in other major foreign airports in Asia.

For instance, the levy charged for each of the popular A330-300 aircraft at Tokyo's Narita International Airport is about 324 percent of that charged at Taoyuan, while the levy for the same model of plane at Hong Kong International Airport is about 187 percent of that charged at Taoyuan.

The airport company requires an estimated NT$173.5 billion (US$5.5 billion) to fund its Terminal Three and third runway projects. In addition to taking out loans, the company still needs to increase its business revenues to finance the work.

The proposal to increase fees will be submitted to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for approval and could come into effect next year at the earliest, the company said, adding that the rates are expected to rise by 6 percent-12 percent. As part of the plan, an additional NT$40 in airport fees will be levied per passenger, it went on.

However, EVA Air and China Airlines, Taiwan's two main carriers, said Tuesday that they currently have no plans to shift the higher cost of the additional airport charges onto passengers by hiking airfares.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel