Taiwan's Taoyuan airport reports record-high transit volume last year: Operator

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport handled a record-high 6.25 million transits last year, thanks to continuing demand from passengers traveling between North America and Southeast Asia, according to its operator.

Taoyuan International Airport Corp. (TIAC), which runs the country's main gateway, said the 2023 figure was 17.5 percent higher than the 2019 level before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which was 5.31 million.

Among the transit passengers served by the airport last year, 37.9 percent came from North America while 35.8 percent were from Southeast Asia, highlighting Taiwan's crucial role as a key transportation hub in East Asia, said TIAC President Fan Hsiao-lun (范孝倫) at a press conference.

Taiwan-based EVA Airways had made substantial contributions to this trend, as it carried up to 64 percent of transit passengers via the airport in 2023, through its proactive expansion of routes to the United States, TIAC figures showed.

The country's China Airlines accounted for approximately 33 percent of transit passengers, while the relatively young Starlux Airlines, which opened only two U.S. routes last year, held a transit passenger share of 2 percent. Other foreign airlines transported only 1 percent of transit passengers.

Meanwhile, overall passenger volume at the Taoyuan airport rose from 5.3 million in 2022 when Taiwan's borders had not fully opened, to 35.35 million in 2023, which was 73.11 percent of the pre-pandemic 2019 level, according to the company.

While TIAC did not give a forecast about when its passenger volume will return to the 2019 level, Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said in mid-2023 that it expected a full recovery in 2025.

It is estimated that Taoyuan airport's international ranking in terms of passenger traffic could be around 15th last year, compared with 10th in 2019, TIAC said.

According to the latest report from Airports Council International's (ACI), the busiest airport worldwide last year was Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, with 86.8 million passengers.

Rounding out ACI's top-five list were Heathrow Airport (79.1 million) in the United Kingdom, Istanbul Airport (78.4 million) in Turkey, Charles de Gaulle Airport (67.4 million) in France, and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (61.8 million) in the Netherlands.