Airport Service Fee to Increase to NT$750 on September 1; Will Rise to NT$1,000 by 2028 for Airport Construction

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today (4th) that, in light of upcoming infrastructure projects such as Terminal 3 and the third runway at Taoyuan International Airport, a new terminal at Kaohsiung Airport, expansion of Taichung Airport, and development of gateway and offshore island airports, an estimated total investment of NT$600 billion will be required over the next 20 years. To ensure sustainable funding for airport development and tourism promotion, the MOTC has decided to implement a two-stage adjustment of the airport service fee. The first stage will raise the fee to NT$750 per departing passenger effective September 1, 2026, followed by a second stage increase to NT$1,000 starting September 1, 2028.

The MOTC noted that the current airport service fee of NT$500 per outbound passenger, last adjusted in 2015, has remained unchanged for over a decade. During this period, construction material prices and operational costs have steadily increased, rendering the existing fee insufficient to cover airport development and operational needs.

The ministry cited neighboring countries as benchmarks: Singapore’s Changi Airport charges the equivalent of NT$1,597, Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok Airport NT$1,434, Japan’s Narita Airport NT$1,239, and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport NT$1,187. Other major Southeast Asian airports—including Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Noi Bai (Hanoi, Vietnam), and Yangon (Myanmar)—also charge higher departure fees than Taiwan. To ensure long-term financial sustainability, the MOTC emphasized the necessity of adjusting fees to better reflect actual service and infrastructure costs.

Currently, the airport service fee is split equally—50% allocated to airport development and 50% to tourism promotion. To align with growing infrastructure demands while still supporting tourism, the allocation ratio will be revised alongside the fee increases. In the first stage, the split will shift to 60% for airports and 40% for tourism; in the second stage, it will become 65% and 35%, respectively. Based on an estimated 25.7 million outbound travelers in 2025, the annual revenue from airport service fees will double from NT$12.8 billion to NT$25.6 billion. This would result in an additional NT$6.6 billion for airport development and NT$9 billion allocated to tourism.

Additionally, recognizing that transit passengers also utilize airport facilities, the MOTC will implement a parallel two-stage adjustment of transit facility usage fees, increasing them up to NT$1,000. As these fees primarily apply to foreign transit passengers, the change will not affect Taiwanese citizens. Currently, Taiwan’s airports connect to 104 international destinations with 3,018 weekly flights.

The DGCA also reported that Taoyuan Airport handled approximately 25.8 million passengers in the first half of 2026, a 10% year-on-year increase. Full-year passenger traffic is projected to exceed 50 million, setting a new record and underscoring the growing demand for air travel and the urgent need for enhanced airport infrastructure and services.