Secondary airport serving Taipei, Taiwan
Taipei Songshan Airport
(
IATA
:
TSA
,
ICAO
:
RCSS
) is a
regional airport
and
military airbase
located in
Songshan District
,
Taipei
,
Taiwan
. The airport covers an area of 182 hectares (450 acres).
[3]
The civilian section of Songshan Airport has scheduled flights to domestic destinations in Taiwan and international destinations including
Seoul
,
Tokyo
, and select cities in China. Songshan serves only a small portion of the international flights for Taipei compared to the larger
Taoyuan International Airport
. Songshan Airport is also the base of certain
Republic of China Air Force
units as part of the Songshan Air Force Base. The Songshan Base Command's
main mission
is to serve the
President
and
Vice President of Taiwan
.
History
[
edit
]
Civil Air Transport
flight at Songshan Airport in 1966.
The airport was built on 28 March 1936 during
Japanese rule
with its origins as a Japanese military airbase, the Taihoku Airfield
(
Japanese
:
臺北飛行場
,
Hepburn
:
Taihoku Hik?j?
)
, also known as Matsuyama Airfield
(
松山飛行場
)
. After
World War II
, in 1946, it was taken over by the
Republic of China Air Force
.
[4]
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
.
[4]
Shared military and civilian use?both domestic and international?began on 16 April 1950
[5]
in the reconstructed Civil Aeronautics Administration Taipei Airport (
交通部民用航空局台北航空站
).
[4]
Domestic destinations have been
Kaohsiung
,
Hualien
,
Taichung
,
Penghu
, and
Tainan
. The first international destinations were
Seattle
,
Tokyo
,
Busan
,
Manila
,
Bangkok
, and
Hong Kong
.
[4]
The first international airlines included
Northwest Airlines
,
Pan Am
, 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.
[4]
Therefore, all international activities were relocated to
Taoyuan International Airport
(then known as Chiang Kai-shek International) after its inauguration on 26 February 1979.
[4]
[6]
Consequently, the passenger load at the airport dropped from 6.2 million in 1978 to 2.9 million in 1979 (a 53% decrease).
[7]
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 the
Taiwan High Speed Rail
's 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).
[7]
Also due to the opening of the high speed rail line, on 1 March 2008, Uni Air suspended its service to Kaohsiung, while Far Eastern Air Transport suspended its service to Tainan.
[8]
TransAsia Airways decided to stop flights to Tainan and Kaohsiung after 1 August 2008.
[9]
[10]
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
[
zh
]
(
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.
[11]
Regular
cross-Strait charter
flights to China started on 4 July 2008, with Songshan receiving the majority of flights.
[12]
Direct flights to China were an issue of contention. Then-mayor
Ma Ying-jeou
had been pressing to make Songshan Airport Taipei's main International 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.
[13]
The continuing growth of Taipei City means that Songshan airport is situated in the heart of downtown Taipei. 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
Lee Ying-yuan
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 the
Taoyuan International Airport Access MRT System
by the end of 2016. 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 Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo.
[
citation needed
]
Due to the introduction of Taiwan-China flights and future international potential, the airport is undergoing extensive renovations, the first phase of which is expected to be completed by October 2010.
[14]
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.
[15]
The unused Terminal 2 was refurbished to accommodate arriving flights while the main Terminal, now Terminal 1, was rearranged to handle increased passenger traffic.
[12]
On 29 March 2011, the renovated Terminal 2 was re-opened to handle domestic flights.
[16]
International potential
[
edit
]
Taipei Songshan Airport Terminal 2.
Songshan Airport observation deck
Similar to
Buenos Aires?Aeroparque
,
London?City
,
Milan?Linate
, and
Toronto?Billy Bishop
airports, Songshan Airport is seen to have the potential to attract business travellers within
Pacific Asia
due to its location in downtown Taipei. Flights to
Bangkok?Don Mueang
,
Jakarta?Halim Perdanakusuma
,
Kuala Lumpur?Subang
,
Nagoya?Komaki
,
Osaka?Itami
,
Seoul?Gimpo
,
Singapore?Seletar
,
Shanghai?Hongqiao
, and
Tokyo?Haneda
are especially attractive since these airports are also closer to the central areas or business districts 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.
[17]
On 6 March 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
All Nippon Airways
) would be able to operate from Songshan Airport to Tokyo?Haneda.
[
citation needed
]
In December 2009, an affirmative schedule for the route between Tokyo?Haneda and Taipei?Songshan was announced.
[18]
Starting in October 2010,
EVA Air
,
China Airlines
,
Japan Airlines
, and
All Nippon Airways
each operates two flights a day from Taipei?Songshan to Tokyo?Haneda,
[18]
with China Airlines and EVA Air both utilizing the
Airbus
Airbus A330-300
on the route. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines began this route with the
Boeing 767-300ER
, but have phased in the newer
Boeing 787-8
on the route beginning in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Japan Airlines also previously used the
Boeing 777-200ER
on this route.
On 14 June 2010, direct flights between Taipei?Songshan and Shanghai?Hongqiao began.
[19]
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 bridges
from eight to six to accommodate wider contemporary aircraft such as the Airbus A330 and Boeing 767.
[20]
Airlines and destinations
[
edit
]
The following airlines operate regular passenger flights at Songshan:
Airlines
| Destinations
|
---|
Air China
| Chongqing
,
[21]
Shanghai?Hongqiao
|
All Nippon Airways
| Tokyo?Haneda
|
China Airlines
| Seoul?Gimpo
,
Shanghai?Hongqiao
,
Tokyo?Haneda
|
China Eastern Airlines
| Shanghai?Hongqiao
|
Eastar Jet
| Seoul?Gimpo
[22]
|
EVA Air
| Seoul?Gimpo
,
Shanghai?Hongqiao
,
Tianjin
,
Tokyo?Haneda
|
Japan Airlines
| Tokyo?Haneda
|
Mandarin Airlines
| Fuzhou
,
[23]
Kinmen
,
Nangan
,
Penghu
,
Taitung
,
Wenzhou
,
Wuhan
|
Shanghai Airlines
| Shanghai?Hongqiao
,
Shanghai?Pudong
|
Sichuan Airlines
| Chengdu?Tianfu
|
T'way Air
| Seoul?Gimpo
|
Uni Air
| Beigan
,
Hualien
,
Kinmen
,
Nangan
,
Penghu
,
Shanghai?Pudong
,
Taitung
,
Xiamen
|
XiamenAir
| Fuzhou
,
Xiamen
|
Traffic and statistics
[
edit
]
In 2018, Songshan Airport handled 6,225,932 passengers and 47,132.9 tons of cargo.
[1]
The route between Taipei Songshan and Kinmen is the busiest domestic route in Taiwan, with 1,267,630 travelers in 2018.
[24]
In 2018, the ten routes with the largest number of passengers are as follows:
Busiest routes from Taipei?Songshan (2018)
[25]
[26]
Rank
|
Airport
|
Passengers 2018
|
Carriers
|
1
|
Tokyo?Haneda
|
1,418,248
|
China Airlines, EVA Air, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines
|
2
|
Kinmen
|
1,267,630
|
Mandarin Airlines, UNI Air
|
3
|
Penghu
|
1,036,535
|
Mandarin Airlines, UNI Air
|
4
|
Shanghai?Hongqiao
|
727,278
|
China Airlines, EVA Air, Air China, China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines
|
5
|
Matsu Nangan
|
252,172
|
UNI Air
|
6
|
Taitung
|
249,056
|
Mandarin Airlines, UNI Air
|
7
|
Seoul?Gimpo
|
242,363
|
China Airlines, EVA Air, Eastar Jet, T'way Air
|
8
|
Shanghai?Pudong
|
205,552
|
UNI Air, Shanghai Airlines
|
9
|
Fuzhou
|
162,734
|
Mandarin Airlines, XiamenAir
|
10
|
Xiamen
|
147,771
|
UNI Air, XiamenAir
|
Ground transportation
[
edit
]
Songshan Airport metro station
Metro
[
edit
]
The airport is served by the
Songshan Airport metro station
on the
Wenhu line
of the
Taipei Metro
.
[27]
The
TR
Songshan Airport Line
[
zh
;
ja
]
also formerly served Songshan Airport from 1936 until 1976.
Several city buses also serve this airport, providing frequent links to the
Tamsui Line
and
Wenshan Line
of the
Taipei Metro
.
Accidents and incidents
[
edit
]
- On 23 October 1944, a Japanese passenger transport plane crashed into the
Taiwan Grand Shrine
on Jiantan Mountain shortly after take-off from then Matsuyama Airfield. Many parts of the shrine, including the Torii ceremonial archway and stone toro lanterns, were damaged in the crash.
[28]
- On 18 August 1945, a Japanese
Type 97 Heavy Bomber
departing for
Dalian
failed to take-off and crashed into flames.
Subhas Chandra Bose
and Lt. Gen.
Tsunamasa Shidei
of
Imperial Japanese Army
are killed in this accident.
[
citation needed
]
- On 20 February 1970,
Douglas DC-3
B-243 of
Far Eastern Air Transport
crashed into a mountain shortly after take-off. The aircraft was operating a cargo flight, both crew were killed.
[29]
- On August 12, 1970,
China Airlines Flight 206
crashed at the airport in a
CFIT
accident.
[
citation needed
]
- On 7 October 1974, a
Vickers Viscount
of Far Eastern Air Transport was the subject of an attempted hijacking. The hijacker was overpowered and the aircraft landed at its intended destination of Taipei Songshan Airport.
[30]
- On 1 February 1975,
Vickers Viscount
PK-RVM of
Mandala Airlines
was damaged beyond economic repair when it overran the runway.
[31]
- On 31 July 1975,
Vickers Viscount
B-2029 of
Far Eastern Air Transport
crashed killing 27 of the 75 people on board.
[32]
- On 22 August 1981, Boeing 737-200 of
Far Eastern Air Transport
broke up
after takeoff from Songshan, killing everyone on board.
[33]
- On 10 October 1997, a
Republic of China Air Force
C-130 Hercules
1310
, c/n 5067, delivered October 1986, same August 1996. The aircraft crashed during an attempted go-around killing all 5 on board.
[
citation needed
]
- On 4 February 2015,
TransAsia Airways Flight 235
, an
ATR 72-600
(B-22816), crashed shortly after takeoff from Taipei Songshan Airport, first clipping a taxi and then crashing into Keelung River near Taipei. Of the 53 passengers and 5 crew members, 43 were killed.
[34]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Taipei Songshan Airport
at Wikimedia Commons
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Major international
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Minor international
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Domestic
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Unscheduled
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Military
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Defunct
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