Taoyuan International Airport, the largest airport in Taiwan, will have a throughput of just over 900,000 passengers in 2021, a record low, while the cargo volume is the opposite, exceeding 2.8 million tons, a record high.
Taiwan's transportation authorities held a press conference on February 8, at which Taoyuan Airport disclosed relevant data, and on the same day, Taoyuan Airport also released a press release and related data on its official website.
Taoyuan International Airport set a record of 48.69 million passengers before the epidemic in 2019, but due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, passenger traffic has plummeted in two years, and the passenger volume has plummeted by only 909,000 in 2021, setting a record for Taoyuan Airport in 43 years of operation.
Taoyuan Airport Company predicts that if the border control can be gradually lifted this year, it is conservatively estimated that the number of passengers this year will reach about 10 million, equivalent to a quarter of what it was before the epidemic. However, if the border continues to be tightly controlled, the number of passengers is still expected to be only 1.5 million, equivalent to 3% before the epidemic.
Taoyuan Airport pointed out that the epidemic has boosted air freight demand, and Taoyuan Airport's air cargo volume in 2021 reached a record high of 2.81 million tons, ranking among the top four in Asia (second only to Shanghai Pudong Airport, Hong Kong Airport and Seoul Incheon Airport), with an annual increase of 20% and positive growth for two consecutive years.
Looking forward to this year, in the case of the world is still mired in the shortage of containers and the supply chain disorder, Taoyuan Airport Company will continue to assist the industry to improve the capacity of cargo handling through measures such as flexible scheduling of aprons and optimization of air-land side cargo movement lines, and it is estimated that the growth momentum is expected to continue, challenging 2.89 million tons in the whole year.
Taoyuan Airport Company pointed out that during the epidemic period, airlines have motorized the capacity of passenger and cargo aircraft. According to statistics, before the epidemic, Taoyuan Airport took off and landed about 500 freighters per week in 2019, accounting for only 30%, and the number of freighters (including passenger aircraft pure cargo) in 2021 increased by nearly 3 times compared with the same period in 2019, reaching about 1900 flights.
According to the IATA (International Air Transport Association), global air cargo volume will continue to grow in 2022, with an annual growth rate of 4.9%.
Image source: Taoyuan Airport