Since April 2012, Taipei Songshan Airport launched the beginning of direct flights to Seoul Gimpo Airport. It already launched official direct flights with Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Tokyo Haneda Airport in 2010, so this completes the Northeast Asia Golden Flight Circuit. These connections will save land transportation time for business travelers flying between Taipei City and the three other cities, making Taipei a more convenient place to do business.
After EVA Air obtained the operational rights to Songshan Airport’s business aviation center last November, it began operations at the end of April to target the top tier chartered business flight market. EVA Air has utilized its expertise, combined with governmental resources, to ensure exclusive transportation, immigration services, and more for passengers on chartered flights. Faster immigration procedures are yet another aspect of functionality of Songshan Airport in its development as a business airport for the capital.
Completion of the Northeast Asia Golden Flight Circuit Forms a One-Day Circle Between Four Cities
According to the data from the Civil Aeronautics Administration, in 2010 and 2011, after direct flights opened up between Songshan, Haneda, and Hongqiao Airports, Taipei Songshan Airport had a passenger occupancy rate of approximately 85%. The Taoyuan-Haneda flight path in 2009, before direct flights were launched, had a 79% passenger occupancy rate; this fell to 70% in 2010 and 2011. This indicates that most travelers prefer the route that saves land transportation time. Business tourism to Taipei is thus expected to increase, since it now possible for businesspeople from Europe or the Americas to complete a business tour of these four major Asian cities in a shorter span of time.
For the maiden flight between Songshan and Gimpo, Taipei City Mayor Hau Lung-bin stated, “Now a businessman visiting Taiwan for work may reach Taipei in a little over two hours after finishing breakfast at home in the morning. After an entire day of business activities, he can even be back at his home in Seoul in time for dinner.” He also pointed out, “To facilitate direct flights out of Songshan Airport and assure Taipei’s future rising status in the Asian economy, the Taipei City Government is negotiating with central authorities right now in the hopes that the area surrounding the airport can be developed for use as business hotels, offices, duty-free shops, and tourist information centers. We hope that this will complement Songshan Airport and that by fulfilling public needs through fortifying the peripheral functionality surrounding the airport, this will stimulate more business opportunities and prosperity in Taipei City.” Furthermore, with the global economy’s gradual shift to the Asian market, Taiwan’s geographical advantage at the heart of East Asia has inspired future plans to develop Taiwan into an Asia Pacific aviation hub.
EVA Sky Jet Center Targets Top Tier Chartered Business Flight Market
EVA Air is also providing comprehensive services for chartered business flights. Service items include: slot and overfly permission application, flight dispatch, supply of flight documents, loading and unloading of baggage, marshaling and moving of aircraft, ground power, gas and aircraft water service, aircraft toilet service, passenger transportation, passenger and crew member immigration procedures, cabin cleaning, flight catering, transportation and hotel reservation services, etc. In addition, the center has facilities such as an international conference room (with video conferencing capabilities), VIP rooms, lounge, crew lounge, reception room, duty room and other hardware facilities. Passengers disembarking from chartered business flights can complete immigration procedures rapidly through specifically designated customs, passport check, and quarantine counters.
Two aircraft can be parked simultaneously on the business tarmac outside of the hanger, and one B737 or A320 model business aircraft can be parked within the hanger or a total of four chartered business aircraft (two 18 seat and one 12 seat, one 6 seat aircrafts). Around 60 chartered business flights enter and exit Songshan Airport on average each month. Once the EVA Sky Jet Center is launched, around a hundred flights a month are expected
