Taiwan boosts airport amid China tourism boom

TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan, which is seeing a boom in tourism from China, will spend TW$463 billion (S$18.8 billion) on a new terminal and other facilities at its main airport, the government said on Wednesday.

In addition to a third terminal at the Taoyuan International Airport in the island's north, the surrounding area will get an aerospace industrial park and special zones for cargo and logistics, said the transportation ministry.

Taiwan, which relaxed controls on travel from China in 2008, received 1.78 million Chinese tourists last year, and calls have been mounting for better facilities to accommodate the growing inflow.

The new terminal, the centrepiece of the "Taoyuan Aerotropolis" project with a budget of TW$50 billion, is set to begin in 2014 and is expected to start operating in 2018, the ministry said.