Taipei Airport

Use TPE airport every year. The experience has deteriorated despite the airport gaining a few awards. Arrival at T2 was easy, although with the low volume of traffic in TPE the immigration process still took longer than before. Sign posts were in a mess (all the same colour and fonts), and luggage handing very slow as usual. However the airport was clean. Departure was a total nightmare. Queueing at the check in was very long for all airlines and it moved very slowly. After checking in another huge queue for security and then passport control. The friendly service that TPE prides itself for was non existent. The main terminal after passport control was noisy and dark. I normally use T1 which was much better after the face lift. I still cannot understand why a run way would be closed for months for refit, which caused flight delay. Imagine it happens in major European or American airports? And the airport authority is pushing to build a 3rd runway and the 3rd terminal without integrating the T1 and T2. What a shame

For my third trip to Taipei since early May there is another major delay to take off and arrival flights due to the closure of one runway. I fully understand that runway maintenance is vital to the smooth operation of airports, but the situation at Taipei's 2 runway main airport is utterly ridiculous. For my departure in mid-August, the taxi to the runway lasted more than one hour. Today's flight was scheduled as on time until the incoming aircraft was yet again held up by air traffic control for 40 minutes. Close to six months of one runway operation illustrates inefficiency at the extreme. Sadly, there is no other international Taiwan gateway other than the odd flight into/from the in-town airport or Kaohsiung.

I had a 15+ hour layover and decided not to purchase a hotel and transport but opted to stay in the TPE airport. I must say I am glad I made that decision and saved about $100. The staff at the information desks, Transit Areas (both B and A) were incredibly helpful. Showers (up to 30 min) are complimentary and include a loaner towel, shampoo, conditioner, and soap. The shower area is large enough to bring in and protect your carry-on. In the lounge, massage chairs require tokens, but they give those out too. In the transit area, there are small noodle shops with a very good menu of Chinese dishes, American sandwiches, delicious desserts (cheese cake, tiramasu, cake), espresso, coffee, and two brands of beer. All priced very reasonably. By midnight, the place is quiet and any transit passenger can stretch out and sleep on chairs, couches, or the carpeted floor. If you can't sleep there are about six complimentary PCs, good free WiFi, mobile charging stations, and ebooks to read. I had a wonderful experience, met a few nice travelers, ate good, slept OK, and spent money only on dinner, dessert, and beer.

My flight took off early in the morning. For this reason, the airport was not very crowded. However, there were very few staff at customs and immigration. It took me a while to pass the security check. Passport control was quick because I applied for the e-gate access. There were many duty free shops around the boarding gates. They are all tidy and clean. The boarding gate was clean and wide. The announcement equipment was normal and loud which means that all passengers at this gate could hear the announcement. Overall, this airport was quite OK for passengers. However, if they had more restaurants or cafes that would be better.

Have been to Taoyuan International 3 times in less than 2 years. Every time I have had bad experience at the departure hall. To be fair their immigration is quick and efficient. Although the queue can be pretty long they clear up very fast. However the check-in process for baggage is simply ridiculous. As with most airports Taoyuan do not allow batteries in checked-in luggage. However their checking process is simply illogical and very time consuming. After checking in the luggage we are instructed to stand in front of a monitor to ensure that our bags clears the x-ray machine. This is also ok as it is a good way to ensure that batteries are not in any checked-in bags. However their set-up is unable to cope which resulted in long waiting time and many frustrated passengers. Here are their issues: 1) Their single lane conveyor belt and xray machine obviously cannot cope with the volume of a full flight. 2) There is only 1 person at the x-ray machine. Once a baggage is flagged the entire scanning process stops until the flagged baggage is checked. What made it even more frustrating was witnessing the x-ray machine person went about looking for masking tape to reseal a box she had opened to inspect it's contents. That held up the scanning process for another 10 minutes. All in all the check-in process took 70 minutes. Actual baggage check in took 30 minutes and standing in front of the baggage TV screen took 40 minutes.

In and out of Taiwan via T2 here and this is a reasonable airport - the immigration time for foreign visitors was very little (there are e-gates for locals) and the luggage appeared in good time. There is the usual selection of rubbish repetitive shops with nothing exciting that I could find. The departure lounge is pretty dull there is very little to do and the food and shops won't excite anyone who regularly flies. Perhaps this airport has gone out of its way to make everything as standardised as possible compared to other big regional airports. The other gripe is that this airport is poorly connected to Taipei proper - road is still the only option although buses are frequent and take under an hour. There is a seven-11 (two in fact) before you go through security which is worth a visit if you are craving some last-minute pseudo-local food.

Used Terminal 1 which is an old terminal but recently renovated. It's quite a tropical style of the check in counter and light and clean all staff including ground service / security / customs / duty free are polite and patient. The time waiting for security checks and passport control is a bit long. Wifi signal is good.

Just arrived T1 last month and the overall feels better after upgrade more cleaning and lighting than the old one. Very convenient with e-Pass. Took 2 minutes for immigration.

It was my 1st time visiting Taiwan. Luckily the staff from volunteers security guards tourism staff and others were very friendly and helpful. I wanted to go around Taipei City and was advised by staff where to get the bus tickets. I had a very early flight in the next morning and was able to sleep overnight there without many problems. The toilets and washrooms were very clean there is even a small lounge for hot/warm water. Check in was ok security checks were quick too. However I am a vegetarian but the airport does not much offer much for this. Overall it was a great experience.

Taipei is Asia's sleepiest airport. While capable of handling major airlines and large jets it somehow feels very relaxed by comparison to say HK Bangkok and Singapore. However the terminals are smart clean and I don't have too many complaints. Some suggestions. Some of the eateries in the food court could also have a presence airside. Like Singapore and its wonderful but more expensive sister airport Songshan (in Taipei itself) it makes use of interesting themes in some of the terminals alcoves about aviation in Taiwan nature of Taiwan relax zones etc which are a nice touch. Ironically it's Songshan that is connected by metro and not as yet Taoyuan - it seems to be taking an eternity to finish the metro link and the high speed rail is miles away and costs a fortune! That and the excruciatingly slow immigration are really the only two problems. When it's finished the metro will be a nice alternative to viewing an industrial wasteland (as seen from the bus in and out of the airport). The free wifi is good too.