Taipei, March 20 (CNA) A project to build a third terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has received a major budget boost of NT$16 billion (US$530 million), and is scheduled to be completed in 2026, the airport operator said Friday.
The company's board of directors agreed on a total budget of NT$95 billion for the project at a meeting on March 18, including NT$53.7 billion for the main terminal building, said Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Co. (TIAC).
Construction of the main building is scheduled to be completed in 2025, with its northern and southern concourses finished in 2024 and 2026, respectively, according to TIAC.
That represents a significant delay for the project which started in 2017 and was initially scheduled to be operational by 2021, after several unsuccessful tenders due to low interest from local building contractors.
For example, the main building was originally budgeted for NT$22 billion, though that was raised to NT$39.6 billion in 2018 and NT$44.8 billion in 2019 after two and one unsuccessful tenders, respectively.
The project was widely criticized for a complicated design by the British architectural firm Rogers Stirk Harbour+ Partners and poor budget management.
To fix the problems, TIAC said, it reviewed the project with the designers and decided to remove a huge skylight but keep the featured wavy ceilings and petal-shaped aluminum installations in the terminal.
TIAC Senior Vice President Fan Hsiao-lun said the company will cut costs by introducing more migrant workers, under the Executive Yuan's loosening of related regulations.
The company said it will also provide more incentives for contractors, such as utility subsidies and reduction of security deposits, and ask for cross-ministry collaboration to help reduce risks during construction.
The new budget will be sent to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for review, before being submitted to the Executive Yuan for final approval, the company said.
Last year, passenger volume at the airport reached 49 million, far exceeding the 35 million passengers the two existing terminals were designed to handle.
