Sungshan Airport Indicates a New Political Climate on Taiwan

Sungshan Airport Indicates a New Political Climate on Taiwan
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
June 2, 2010

The Songshan Airport is already 60 years old. It is about to become an important part of the Northeast Asian transportation ring. It will link to Shanghai's Hongqiao, Tokyo's Haneda, and Seoul's Gimpo. It will become a "small is beautiful" commercial airport for the nation's capital. This will significantly increase Songshan Airport's commercial viability. It will integrate Taipei with the three most important cities of Northeast Asia, and provide it with opportunities for development. The prospects are worth looking forward to.

The plan is for Songshan Airport to begin flights to and from Hongqiao Airport on the 14th of this month. Each side will schedule 14 flights per week. Flights to and from Haneda Airport will begin on October 31. Each side will schedule 28 flights per week. Negotiations with South Korea are still in progress. The government hopes to open up new direct flights to Gimpo Airport. Therefore In addition to current domestic and cross-Strait flights, Songshan Airport will offer flights to the capitals of Japan and Korea, linking Taipei to the Northeast Asian Transportion Ring's Golden Triangle. Shanghai, Tokyo, and Seoul are Asia's most important, prosperous, and vibrant metropolises. If Taipei can seize the opportunity to reinforce its air links to these cities, it will help promote mutual exchanges. It will make Taipei more attractive to international business and tourism.

As President Ma Ying-jeou has noted, Taiwan is geographically situated at the heart of East Asia. Average distances to the major countries in the region and their capitals are very short -- less than four hours flying time. Taipei enjoys such favorable geographic advantages. Yet in the past, due to various factors, it could not make best use of its advantages, it could not maximize the benefits of economic exchange. That truly is a pity.

Songshan Airport has a glorious history. But in 1979, when the Taoyuan International Airport went into operation, Songshan Airport was demoted to the status of a domestic airport. It never underwent significant expansion or renovation, but instead gradually went into decline. Once the High Speed Rail went into operations, domestic flights were grounded. Songshan Airport looked even more forlorn. Only after President Ma took office did the two sides reconcile and resume cross-Strait exchanges, open up cross-Strait direct flights, and include Songshan Airport as a destination. This, plus a significant increase in the number of mainland tourists arriving on Taiwan, began to revive Songshan Airport. Weekend charter flights turned into regular flights. Last year passenger traffic experienced a significant 3,130,000 increase. Now that international flights are being restored, its facilities and services must be significantly increased. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is about to spend billions of dollars on a three-phase renovation, completely converting it into a terminal for international flights. Terminal II will be reserved for domestic flights. Essential services and facilities will be added, providing the greater Taipei area with express freight and commercial aviation services.

Therefore, one can expect that within the year, Taipei, Shanghai, and Tokyo, three major cities in Northeast Asia, will be linked. Songshan Airport, Hongqiao Airport, and Haneda Airport are all located in urban areas. If they are linked to these cities' subway systems, travel times can be greatly reduced. Travel between these three cities could be reduced to "day trips." From Taipei, one could take the subway to Songshan Airport in the morning, lunch on crabs in Shanghai at noon, and sip tea in Tokyo in the afternoon. If an agreement can be reached with South Korea on Kimpo Airport, dining on ginseng chicken in Myeong-dong will be easy as pie. Tourists from Taiwan to Japan and South Korea do not require visas. Civil sector exchanges and tourism to Taiwan would be even more convenient.

Such convenient transportation flows will directly benefit affected businesses. But before traffic to Songshan Airport is significantly increased, we must be fully prepared. We must review the existing hardware and software for shortcomings, and make timely improvements.

Frankly, although Songshan Airport was once in the spotlight, its interior space, its design, and its facilities had already fallen short of the prevailing requirements for international airports. The runways were not long enough for Boeing 747s. With the influx of mainland tourists, it has attempted to cope. But if we hope to further increase passenger and aircraft throughput, we must significantly increase the capacity of the facilities and services. We will also need the cooperation of other departments. For example, we must set up a business aviation zone to facilitate exchanges between international business executives. The ROC Air Force must be willing to allow the use of its land. This will require high-level government coordination.

The expanded role of Songshan Airport runs directly counter to Green Camp wishes. The Democratic Progressive Party has long advocated that Songshan Airport be relocated, and the site be turned into a park. But if the role of Songshan Airport becomes larger and larger, if its operations are expanded day by day, if the public experiences the benefits of using Songshan Airport, the DPP will be forced to take into account public preferences. This may be the reason Su Tseng-chang, the DPP candidate for Taipei Mayor, no longer raises the issue of Songshan Airport relocation. If Su Tseng-chang can adopt a pragmatic attitude, Songshan Airport need not become a political battlefield. Policy can be formulated on the basis of merit. Policies can be formulated on the basis of what is most consistent with the interests of the public, including the city of Taipei. This would be the most mature and rational approach.

Additional air routes can bring about an increase in tourist traffic. But the operation of an airport requires multifaceted support. Only then can one achieve shining results that will impress the public. Now that Songshan Airport is about to undergo further transformation, we would like to applaud the opening of this small but beautiful gateway to the nation, an opening that indicates the advent of a new political climate on Taiwan.

中時電子報 新聞
中國時報 　2010.06.02
社論－期待松山機場 展現台灣新氣象
本報訊

已經高齡六十的松山機場，即將變身成為東北亞黃金航圈之重要據點，陸續與中國上海虹橋、日本東京羽田及南韓首爾金浦機場對飛，並打造「小而美」的首都商務機場。這不僅將明顯提高松山機場的營運，更將讓台北市與東北亞三大重要都會緊密結合，帶動的發展契機，非常令人期待。

依據規畫，松山機場將在本月十四日先與虹橋機場通航，每周雙方各飛十四班；今年十月卅一日則與羽田機場對飛，每周雙方各飛廿八班；目前正與南韓方面洽談修約，希望進一步開闢直飛金浦機場的新航線。如此一來，除了目前的國內與兩岸航班之外，松山機場又增加了與日、韓首都圈機場的航班，串連起一個東北亞的黃金三角航圈。上海、東京、首爾是亞洲最重要、商務最蓬勃的大都會，台北市能藉此加強與這幾個城市的航空交通，對促進彼此的交流大有助益，也能對國際商務與觀光客源產生更大的吸引力。

正如馬英九總統所言，台灣的地理位置在東亞中心，和此區主要國家城市與首都的平均距離都很短，飛行時間不到四小時，如此優越的地理優勢，過去礙於種種因素而沒有辦法好好利用，使其發揮最大經濟交流效益，確實非常可惜。

松山機場曾經有一段輝煌的歷史，但在民國六十八年桃園國際機場啟用、松山機場改為國內線機場後，一直未作重大整修擴建的松山機場漸顯衰退。而高鐵通車之後，國內航班紛紛停飛，松山機場更是愈來愈冷清。直到馬總統上任後，兩岸關係和解，開放兩岸直航並納入松山機場，加上大陸觀光客來台數量大增，松山機場才又熙來攘往熱鬧起來，從周末包機發展成定期航班，去年旅客量大幅增加至三一三萬。如今要再增加國際航班，相關設備及服務勢必大幅加強不可。交通部現正斥資十億台幣進行三階段整建，將一航廈完全改作國際線之用，第二航廈則供國內線使用，同時補強相關服務設備，提供大台北地區快遞貨運及商務航空服務。

因此，可以預見在今年之內，台北、上海、東京，這三座東北亞重要城市將串連起來。由於松山機場、虹橋機場與羽田機場都位於市區，在地鐵的配合下，大大縮短了旅行時間。換句話說，這三座城市可以成為一個「一日生活圈」。在台北，早上出門搭捷運到松山機場，午餐就可以在上海吃大閘蟹，或在東京六本木喝下午茶。而如果能再與南韓金浦機場談好對飛協議，到明洞吃人蔘雞也是小事一椿。尤其台灣觀光客赴日本、南韓都享有免簽證待遇，將來民眾的來往、觀光客來台旅遊，都將更加方便順暢。

如此方便的流通，直接將對相關商圈的營運帶來助益，然而，在松山機場業務大增之前，我們必須作好充分的準備，檢討目前軟硬體不足之處，及早改善補強。

坦白說，松山機場當年可能很風光，但其空間、設計與設備，早已不敷當前一個國際機場之所需，甚至因為跑道不夠長而不能起降波音七四七。在大陸觀光客湧入後雖然勉強還能應付，可是如果想再增加旅客與飛機的吞吐量，就非要大幅強化設備與服務能量不可。有些環節還需要動員其他部門的配合，例如設置商務航空專區，以便利國際商務高層人士往來，就牽涉到空軍是否願意釋出土地來，這也有待政府高層的協調。

松山機場機能日益擴大，其實是與綠營的一貫主張相反的。過去民進黨長期主張將松山機場遷移至他處，原址則改造成公園，但如果松山機場的功能愈來愈蓬勃，營運日益成長，民眾感受到善用松山機場的好處時，民進黨恐怕就不得不考慮到民意的好惡了，這可能也是民進黨台北市長參選人蘇貞昌現在不提松山機場遷移案的原因。如果蘇貞昌能採取務實態度，松山機場可以不必成為政黨角力的戰場，而回歸就事論事，讓這項政策朝最符合民眾希望及台北市利益的方向走，這應該是最成熟理性的作法。

航線的增加可以帶來客源，但一個機場的營運，需要許多環節的支持，才能有令人耳目一新的成績。在松山機場即將進一步轉型的同時，我們期勉這個小而美的國家大門，也能展現出台灣的新氣象。