Flights disrupted by planned closure of Taoyuan airport runway

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) Several flights to and from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were affected or diverted Sunday, the first day of the planned closure of a runway for annual maintenance.

The 54-hour closure of the 05R/23L runway on the southside of the dual-runway airport started at 10 a.m., and the first incoming flight diverted was EVA Airways' BR708 from Guangzhou, the plane tracking website Flightradar24's data showed.

Flight BR708 departed Guangzhou on time and was scheduled to arrive at Taoyuan airport at 11:25 a.m.

After circling off western Taiwan, the flight was diverted to Kaohsiung International Airport at 1:35 p.m. and landed in the southern city at 2:23 p.m., the EVA Air website showed.

The diverted EVA Air flight took off from Kaohsiung at 3:11 p.m. and landed in Taoyuan at 5:07 p.m., the carrier's website showed.

As of 9 p.m. the Flightradar24 website showed six flights were diverted to Kaohsiung (BR708, China Airlines' CI782, CI101 and CI5345, Thai Airways' TG634, and HK Express's UO112), and four to Taipei Songshan Airport (CI834, CI2852, BR258 and Peach Aviation's MM27).

The plane tracking website showed these flights were all circling in a holding pattern near Taiyuan before being diverted, but it has not been confirmed that all the diversions were linked to the closed runway.

In a statement released Sunday afternoon, airport operator Taoyuan International Airport Corp. said it will consult relevant parties to reduce the long waiting time of airplanes circling in the sky during the ongoing single-runway operations that are scheduled to conclude at 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) issued recently.

However, the company did not provide information on the exact number of flights affected by the runway closure in its statement.

Meanwhile, China Airlines said it began carrying extra fuel on its aircraft Sunday in response to the runway closure and advised passengers to check the latest flight information on its website or app.