nsportation and Communications began working on a plan to move air traffic from Taichung's ShuiNan Airport to the CCK Air Force base as a first step to converting CCK into a new international airport to facilitate larger aircraft.
The airport opened in early 2004, and the expanded facility at CCK Air Force Base has a much longer runway capable of handling larger aircraft. International charter flight service from the city began the same day.
The opening of The Taichung International Airport did spark a spat of partisan controversies about being incomplete and safety concerns were raised. The fact that Taiwan has more airports per capita than any other country in the region and prohibits private airplanes fell on deaf ears because the anticipated and protracted opening of direct links with the Chinese mainland are expected to require an increase in air traffic.
Taichung's airport currently handles daily scheduled flights between Taichung and the cities of Taipei and Hualian, as well as the offshore islands of Penghu (Pescadores) and Kinmen. Airlines operating out of Taichung include Mandarin and UNI. International air services are expected to continue growing to include charter flights between Taichung and South Korea, plus special charter flights to other destinations and possibly the Chinese mainland
