Taipei: Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has strong potential to become a major transfer hub between Southeast Asia and North America, but still faces constraints in route diversity, airline density, and terminal capacity, experts said.

According to Focus Taiwan, Taoyuan handled 22.1 percent of the 9.82 million passengers traveling from Southeast Asia to nine destinations in North America directly connected to the airport. This figure places Taoyuan second only to Incheon International Airport's 23.6 percent and ahead of other competitors like Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports, as well as Hong Kong International Airport.

Hwang Tay-lin, a professor of aviation management at Chang Jung Christian University, noted that transfer passengers currently account for only about 15 percent of total traffic at Taoyuan Airport. In comparison to established hubs like Singapore Changi, Incheon, and Hong Kong, Taoyuan falls behind in route diversity, airline density, and terminal capacity. Hwang believes that airlines are more likely to expand their destination networks once passenger volumes increase significantly.

Providence University tourism professor Huang Cheng-tsung commented that Taoyuan remains appealing to transfer passengers, especially when compared to more congested hubs such as Hong Kong and Singapore Changi. The anticipated completion of Terminal 3 and a third runway is expected to increase Taoyuan's capacity by approximately 50 percent, thereby enhancing service quality and competitiveness.