TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taoyuan International Airport saw 6.25 million transit passengers pass through in 2023, compared to the 5.31 million recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, reports said Friday (Feb. 9).
The 17.5% increase was mainly the result of travelers between North America and Southeast Asia changing flights in Taiwan, turning Taoyuan into a major international transit hub, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. Airlines serving the routes had increased their frequency, helping the airport to achieve the increase.
The number of Los Angeles flights was 30% higher last year than in 2019, with the Vietnamese capital Hanoi registering a 15% increase. Bangkok and San Francisco were also up 6% over the same period, according to Taoyuan International Airport Corporation (TIAC).
As a proportion of the total number of travelers, North America rose from 8% to 11% over the four years, while Southeast Asia surged from 24% to 31%. Delta Air Lines’s decision to end an absence of seven years and to launch flights between Taoyuan and Seattle in June would also further improve the airport’s status, officials said.
Regarding the total number of passengers, 2021 dropped to Taoyuan’s lowest figure ever, 909,000. The number recovered to 5.34 million the following year, including Taiwan's reopening after the pandemic in October. But in just one year, the airport added 30 million passengers, reaching 35.35 million for 2023, TIAC said.