International Potential
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, Shanghai-Hongqiao, and Tokyo-Haneda 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.
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. 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, 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. 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.
Read more about this topic: Taipei Songshan Airport
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