Taipei, Feb. 2 (CNA) The fate of Hengchun Airport in the southern county of Pingtung remains gloomy, despite authorities' efforts to make the best use of it, as it sits idle.
In the latest setback to those efforts, the military recently rejected a proposal by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to take over the airport for use by the Army Special Forces Command, which operates a fleet of helicopters nearby.
The CAA has been exploring ways of reviving the airport, the smallest in Taiwan, which has not been in operation since September 2014, when UNI Air halted its domestic flights on the Taipei-Pingtung route.
Prior to that, Mandarin Airlines and the now-defunct TransAsia Airways had also discontinued service on that route, despite the attraction of Nanwan Beach in the county's Kenting area, which was drawing some 4 million visitors annually in pre-COVID-19 pandemic years.
The airlines cited a drop in passenger numbers, particularly after the north-south high speed railway service was launched in January 2007, and technical issues resulting from the strong northeasterly winds that buffet the Hengchun Peninsula in winter.
Built during the period of Japanese colonial rule as a military facility, Hengchun Airport was converted into a civilian airport in 2004, in a bid to boost regional development and local tourism.
In the first year of commercial operation, the airport recorded 23,000 passengers on the Taipei-Hengchun route, but by 2006, the number dropped to 11,000, and in 2011 it plunged to 2,448, according to CAA statistics.
Citing a feasibility study it conducted in 2021, the CAA said that while Pingtung residents have proposed opening the airport to international charter flights, that is out of the question, partly because of the seasonal northeasterly winds that make flights impossible from October to April every year.
Furthermore, the CAA said, the airport's 1,700-meter airstrip would have to be extended to at least 2,500 meters to accommodate charter jets, or a new runway would have to be built.
Both options would require leveling down mountains, which would create an environmental issue, the CAA said in its analysis.
"As the military has shown no interest in taking over Hengchun Airport, it will remain the way it is for now, requiring NT$20 million (US$719,420) per year in maintenance and personnel costs," CAA Director-General Lin Kuo-hsien (林國顯) told CNA in December.
According to Lin, the CAA will continue to explore ways of diversifying the use of the airport, as it would be a pity to demolish it.
Currently, the airport is being used by Apex Flight Academy for takeoff and landing training once every two months, and by the Navy to launch and land drones 15 to 20 times a month, Hengchun Airport acting director Chu Yu-yi (朱育儀) told CNA recently.
Occasionally, seminars on aviation-related topics are held there, and it is used sometimes as a film-making site, as part of the diversification efforts, Chu said.
On its website, Hengchun Airport still touts its proximity to major tourism attractions, saying the Kengting resort area and National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium are only a 10-minute drive away.
