Taoyuan Airport City prepares for take-off

The agreements penned between ARATS and the SEF will pave the way for even closer transport and communication links between more of Taiwan and China’s airports and harbours, in so doing further integrating Taiwan into the greater China region. Taiwan’s ideal geographical location coupled with strong government support of the Taoyuan Airport City concept (one of President Ma Ying-jeou’s much touted iTaiwan projects) give added impetus to the notion that Taiwan’s airport city could one day stand tall among global peers like Schiphol (in the Netherlands), Dallas Fort-Worth and Dubai.

According to Dr. Eric Chu, Taoyuan County Magistrate, just a year ago the idea would have sounded absurd but now plans are in place and legislation is being written to make this dream a reality. Speaking on the subject yesterday at a European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) luncheon, Chu said that passing the legislation to allow the project to go ahead is key. In this regard, good progress has already been made with 56 of 63 articles of the Taoyuan Aviation City Bill already having been examined and approved, according to Chu. Once passed by the legislature, the ambitious plan to attract and invest NT$1 trillion in public and private funds in infrastructure, generate NT$600 billion in industrial output annually and create 80,000 jobs can go ahead.

The plan calls for the restructuring of the non-profit Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) into an oversight body while the management of the airport is to be turned over to a private corporation. The Taoyuan County government would be involved in developing the surrounding area into special zones for logistics, business services, technology parks and retail activities.

Chu hopes to introduce sufficient incentives to lure Taiwanese high tech companies to relocate from mainland China to Taiwan as well as attract foreign corporations to set up shop in the new zones.

Careful planning will be important if the airport city is to succeed. According to Rik Krabbendam, Director Airport Engineering and Planning, Netherlands Airport Consultants, also speaking at the luncheon, the city needs to look good and function smoothly. Key to achieving this is good design, construction and an efficient transportation network.

Krabbendam’s sentiments were echoed later by Tay Her Lim, CLSA Property Analyst, who said that the main weakness of the international airport right now is the lack of a rail system (which is still in the pipeline) linking the airport directly to Taoyuan city, county and Taipei. Lim, drawing from a research report his firm, in conjunction with the ECCT, has published on the subject, also sees great potential for cargo volume growth in Taiwan, especially as economic integration with China unfolds. Spin-off industries also have potential to grow such as aircraft maintenance operations.

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