Taoyuan International Airport Corporation (TIAC) will lose US$44.33 million this year, the first loss in its history, due to COVID-19, reports said.
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While Taiwan has not installed a travel ban, many airlines have cut flights due to travel restrictions in other countries and plunging demand for tickets. In recent years, the growth in the number of international visitors to Taiwan had allowed TIAC to book rising income, CNA reported.
However, by the end of June, TIAC had already accumulated a loss for this year of at least US$3.4 million, which is now growing at a rate of US$6.8 million a month, TIAC officials told a news conference at the Ministry of Transportation. They added that if it had not been for government relief, those losses would have reached US$27.2 million a month.
The daily number of flights dropped from 700 before the pandemic to 200 at present, and the latter figure also includes cargo traffic, officials said. An estimated 2,000 passengers leave or arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport each day.
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As the pandemic is accelerating again in several countries, there is no major improvement in sight, allowing TIAC to forecast a total loss of US$44.3 million for the year 2020.
(Source: Taiwan News)