Dec. 02--TAIPEI (THE CHINA POST/ANN) -- Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Thursday called the much-needed facelift transforming the 60-year-old Taipei Songshan Airport into an integral stop in "Northeast Asia's Golden Triangle of business," a "silent revolution" for Taiwan in the international airport community.

Ma made the speech at Terminal 1 of the airport Thursday at 9 a.m. after overseeing the third phase of airport renovations involving an international terminal that would open by the end of December.

Once the terminal is complete, local media estimate that the visitor capacity could hit 3.8 million per year, increasing the airport's total passenger capacity to 6.6 million people annually.

Taipei Songshan Airport started direct flights to Tokyo's Haneda Airport last year and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport in June. Plans for direct flights with Seoul's Gimpo International Airport will kickoff next March, completing the "Golden Triangle of business" that forms Ma's silent revolution.

Pointing to a map illustration of the "Golden Triangle," Ma said when he first came into office, there were only 3.6 million people per year visiting Taiwan. As of last year, the number has already hit 5.64 million and the president projects that for 2011, it will exceed 6 million people -- an historic high.

Ma said that with the Taipei Songshan Airport renovations, the average time between Taipei to Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai is a mere 2 hours and 55 minutes -- the shortest distance of any major Asian airport. The global rise in Taiwan's airport industry is a sign of a silent revolution, he added.

Business passengers on their way from Taipei to Tokyo stopped to listen to Ma speak. Many, including a food company CEO surnamed Hsu, informed Ma that the 100-minute difference between the Taipei route and the old Taoyuan International Airport route has saved much time and money.

The third phase of airport renovations was initially scheduled for completion in September; however, with additions to the international terminal and service desks, the construction was pushed back three months.

Copyright 2011 - The China Post, Taipei, Taiwan / Asia News Network