TAOYUAN (TVBS News) — Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC, 桃園國際機場股份有限公司) announced on Wednesday (Aug. 14) that the north concourse of Terminal 3 will begin operations mid-next year.
TIAC organized a field trip for reporters to view Terminal 3's construction sites. Chairman Yang Wei-fuu (楊偉甫) stated that once Terminal 3 is completed, the airport’s passenger service capacity will increase from 37 million to 82 million travelers annually.
Yang also reported that 26 million air travelers had passed through the airport as of July, with projections reaching up to 45 million by the end of the year—approximately 92 to 94 percent of 2019 levels.
The Terminal 3 project was launched after the number of air travelers surpassed the combined capacity of Terminals 1 and 2, which were designed to accommodate 37 million passengers annually. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the airport handled 48.36 million travelers. The company now projects that by 2028, more than 50 million passengers will pass through the airport each year.
As of July, Taiwan welcomed about 3.936 million transit passengers, up from 3.46 million during the same period last year. TIAC data showed that approximately 77 percent of this year's transit passengers traveled between North America and Southeast Asia, with about 40 percent flying from the U.S. or Canada to Southeast Asian nations.
TIAC reported that 42.3 percent of the Terminal 3 project is completed. Although the entire project will not be finished until 2027, the north concourse is set to add eight aircraft parking spaces next year. Due to inflation and other factors, the project’s cost is now estimated at NT$128.37 billion, up from NT$95.6 billion.
Terminal 3 will primarily serve flights connecting North America and Southeast Asia, offered by China Airlines (中華航空), EVA Airways (長榮航空), and Starlux Airlines (星宇航空).