Taipei Songshan Airport Songshan Air Force Base 臺北松山機場 空軍松山基地 | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / military | ||||||||||
| Owner | |||||||||||
| Serves | Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area | ||||||||||
| Location | Songshan,Taipei,Taiwan | ||||||||||
| Opened | 28 March 1936; 89 years ago (1936-03-28) | ||||||||||
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| Focus city for | |||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 5 m / 18 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 25°04′10″N121°33′06″E / 25.06944°N 121.55167°E /25.06944; 121.55167 | ||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  TSA/RCSS Location of airport in Taipei Show map of Taipei TSA/RCSS Location of airport in Taiwan Show map of Taiwan | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2024) | |||||||||||
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| Sources: Civil Aeronautics Ministry[1][2] WAD[3] | |||||||||||
| Taipei Songshan Airport | |||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 臺北松山機場 or 台北松山機場 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 台北松山机场 | ||||||||||||||
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Taipei Songshan Airport (IATA:TSA,ICAO:RCSS) is a city airport andmilitary airbase located inSongshan District,Taipei,Taiwan. The airport covers an area of 182 hectares (450 acres).[4]
The civilian section of Songshan Airport has scheduled flights to domestic destinations in Taiwan and international destinations includingSeoul,Tokyo, and select cities in China. Songshan serves only a small portion of the international flights for Taipei compared to the largerTaoyuan International Airport. Songshan Airport is also the base of certainRepublic of China Air Force units as part of the Songshan Air Force Base. The Songshan Base Command'smain mission is to serve thepresident andvice president of Taiwan.
The airport was built on 28 March 1936 duringJapanese rule with its origins as a Japanese military airbase, the Taihoku Airfield (Japanese:臺北飛行場,Hepburn:Taihoku Hikōjō), also known as Matsuyama Airfield (松山飛行場). In 1937, Matsuyama Airfield was occupied by the Japanese Navy's Kanoya Air Group and its Type 96 G3M bombers for bombing positions on Chinese positions. On August 14, 1937, an 18-bomber mission launched from Matsuyama Airfield targetedJianqiao Airfield inZhejiang Province and Guangde Airfield in Anhui Province, both in China. The raid was intercepted by Chinese fighter aircraft, resulting in the loss of four bombers without any casualties on the Chinese side. This date was later celebrated as Air Force Day in China. In 1944, the Japanese Army's 37th Kyoiku Hikotai, a training unit equipped with Ki-61 fighters, was established at Matsuyama. Many of its instructors later engaged in combat against American forces over Taiwan and Japan during the war's final months. From March to August, 1945, the US ArmyFar East Air Forces bombed the airfield, with the last mission on 24 August usingB-24 heavy bombers.[5]
AfterWorld War II, in 1946, it was taken over by theRepublic of China Air Force, and renamed to Songshan Airport.[6] Before the end of theChinese Civil War and the establishment of thePeople's Republic of China, the airport provided flight routes betweenShanghai and Taipei, occasionally viaFuzhou.[6]
Shared military and civilian use—both domestic and international—began on 16 April 1950[7] in the reconstructed Civil Aeronautics Administration Taipei Airport (交通部民用航空局台北航空站).[6] Domestic destinations have beenKaohsiung,Hualien,Taichung,Penghu, andTainan. The first international destinations wereSeattle,Tokyo,Busan,Manila,Bangkok, andHong Kong.[6] The first international airlines includedNorthwest Airlines,Pan Am, andHong Kong Airways (nowCathay Pacific). Later, the airport became too small to handle an increased number of passengers, even after a series of expansions. This later worsened when new wide-body jets became common at the airport.[6] Therefore, all international activities were relocated toTaoyuan International Airport (then known as Chiang Kai-shek International) after its inauguration on 26 February 1979.[6][8] Consequently, the passenger load at the airport dropped from 6.2 million in 1978 to 2.9 million in 1979 (a 53% decrease).[9] At its peak in 1997, the airport handled over 15.3 million passengers annually.
Service toTaichung andChiayi was stopped in mid-2007 after theload factor dropped significantly due to theTaiwan High Speed Rail's start of revenue service in January 2007. Passenger volume decreased from 6.7 million in 2006 to 4.4 million in 2007 (a 34% decrease).[9] Also due to the opening of the high speed rail line, on 1 March 2008, Uni Air suspended its service to Kaohsiung, while Far Eastern Air Transport suspended its service to Tainan.[10] TransAsia Airways decided to stop flights to Tainan and Kaohsiung after 1 August 2008.[11][12]
In early 1999 when the construction ofTaipei 101 had just started, Taiwan'sCivil Aeronautics Administration changed this airport's certainSID andSTAR procedures to avoid possible collision with the building. The 677-meterFuxing North Road Underground Passage [zh] (復興北路車行地下道) was constructed between 1997 and 2006 under this airport's runway to link the north and south side of this airport.[13]
Regularcross-strait charter flights to China started on 4 July 2008, with Songshan receiving the majority of flights.[14] Direct flights to China were an issue of contention. Then-mayorMa Ying-jeou had been pressing to make Songshan Airport Taipei's main International terminal, citing that its location close to the city center would make it preferable for business travelers. However, building height restrictions around the airport raised concerns about flight safety, blocking of radio communications, noise pollution, and a reduced number of flights.[15]
The continuing growth of Taipei City means that Songshan airport is situated in the heart of downtown Taipei. Compared toTaiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Songshan Airport saves travelers about 30 minutes due to its location inside Taipei City's central business district, but the city suffers from the noise, pollution, restrictions onurban planning, andtraffic congestion the airport brings about. In the2002 and2006 Taipei Mayor ElectionDPP candidatesLee Ying-yuan andFrank Hsieh both proposed the plan to close Songshan Airport, and developed its land into road, huge park,detention basin and sportsarena, since theTaiwan High Speed Rail could quickly take up the traffic load between Taipei and western Taiwan cities, and the remaining service to outlying islands and eastern Taiwan could be easily taken over by the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport after the completion of theTaoyuan International Airport Access MRT System by the end of 2016. Also, the MRT system will make the international potential of Songshan airport less attractive. The Songshan Airport closing proposal was deferred under theTaipei City Government which has long been dominated by thePan-Blue Coalition, who prefers the downtown airport connection concept with Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo.[citation needed]
Due to the introduction of Taiwan-China flights and future international potential, the airport is undergoing extensive renovations, the first phase of which is expected to be completed by October 2010.[16] The second and third phase renovations are expected to be completed by March and October 2011, respectively. However, as of November 2011 renovations are still in progress. A new international cargo terminal is being built in anticipation of a new air route between Taiwan and Japan.[17] The unused Terminal 2 was refurbished to accommodate arriving flights while the main Terminal, now Terminal 1, was rearranged to handle increased passenger traffic.[14] On 29 March 2011, the renovated Terminal 2 was re-opened to handle domestic flights.[18]
Similar toBuenos Aires–Aeroparque,London–City,Milan–Linate, andToronto–Billy Bishop airports, Songshan Airport is seen to have the potential to attract business travellers withinPacific Asia due to its location in downtown Taipei. Flights toBangkok–Don Mueang,Jakarta–Halim Perdanakusuma,Kuala Lumpur–Subang,Nagoya–Komaki,Osaka–Itami,Seoul–Gimpo,Shanghai–Hongqiao, andTokyo–Haneda are especially attractive since these airports are also closer to the central areas or business districts of their respective cities, and all these cities have larger far flung international airports. The airport is currently in the process of expansion to better accommodate international flights.[19]
On 6 March 2009, Japan and Taiwan signed amemorandum of understanding on the revision of Taiwan–Japan bilateral traffic. Four carriers (EVA Air,China Airlines,Japan Airlines, andAll Nippon Airways) would be able to operate from Songshan Airport to Tokyo–Haneda.[citation needed] In December 2009, an affirmative schedule for the route between Tokyo–Haneda and Taipei–Songshan was announced.[20] Starting in October 2010,EVA Air,China Airlines,Japan Airlines, andAll Nippon Airways each operates two flights a day from Taipei–Songshan to Tokyo–Haneda,[20] with China Airlines and EVA Air both utilizing theAirbus A330-300 on the route. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines began this route with theBoeing 767-300ER, but have phased in the newerBoeing 787-8 on the route beginning in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Japan Airlines also previously used theBoeing 777-200ER on this route.
On 14 June 2010, direct flights between Taipei–Songshan and Shanghai–Hongqiao began.[21] Each week has 28 flights, served byChina Eastern Airlines,Shanghai Airlines,Air China, China Airlines, EVA Air, andTransAsia Airways. The airport will undergo upgrades to its runway and reduce itsjet bridges from eight to six to accommodate wider contemporary aircraft such as the Airbus A330 and Boeing 767.[22]
The following airlines operate regular passenger flights at Songshan:
In 2018, Songshan Airport handled 6,225,932 passengers and 47,132.9 tons of cargo.[1] The route between Taipei Songshan and Kinmen is the busiest domestic route in Taiwan, with 1,267,630 travelers in 2018.[24] In 2018, the ten routes with the largest number of passengers are as follows:
| Rank | Airport | Passengers 2018 | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tokyo–Haneda | 1,418,248 | China Airlines, EVA Air, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines |
| 2 |  Kinmen | 1,267,630 | Mandarin Airlines, UNI Air |
| 3 | Penghu | 1,036,535 | Mandarin Airlines, UNI Air |
| 4 |  Shanghai–Hongqiao | 727,278 | China Airlines, EVA Air, Air China, China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines |
| 5 | Matsu Nangan | 252,172 | UNI Air |
| 6 | Taitung | 249,056 | Mandarin Airlines, UNI Air |
| 7 |  Seoul–Gimpo | 242,363 | China Airlines, EVA Air, Eastar Jet, T'way Air |
| 8 | Shanghai–Pudong | 205,552 | UNI Air, Shanghai Airlines |
| 9 | Fuzhou | 162,734 | Mandarin Airlines, XiamenAir |
| 10 | Xiamen | 147,771 | UNI Air, XiamenAir |
The airport is served by theSongshan Airport metro station on theWenhu line of theTaipei Metro.[27] TheTRSongshan Airport Line [zh;ja] also formerly served Songshan Airport from 1936 until 1976.
Several city buses also serve this airport, providing frequent links to theTamsui Line andWenshan Line of theTaipei Metro.
Media related toTaipei Songshan Airport at Wikimedia Commons
