flyinglan

One of my biggest disappointment for the TPE airport is the lack of special line for Elite or business class passengers. Doesn't the Taiwanese government realize lack of infrastructure for business travelers will hurt the international trade? Tokyo NRT HND for example, there is GoldTrack for Staralliance elite member. Business traveler traveling to and from NRT HND airport can expect reasonable/short airport clearing time, and can schedule their business meeting accordingly. When will TPE airport management catch up to modern airport standard???

username

When T3 is finally done - whenever that is

No need to be condescending. I am sure they know it but there is just not enough space. There is no doubt the airport is sub-standard compared to major airports around it. The airport is capacity constrained and they struggle to increase capacity in T1 and T2. eGate service is now available to select foreign passport holders.

ACI surveys and rankings are important to them. https://aci.aero/news/2018/03/06/aci...ngst-airports/

I don't think any business travellers would say "TPE airport line is long, I am not going". If it is really important for you, you can pay for the Huan Yu VIP service that is totally separate from the regular passengers: ?????? Huan Yu VIP Terminal

All that said, for the Chinese New Year period the next few weeks, expect huge crowd and delays both landside and on the tarmac. Check-in cutoff is 60 minutes the next few weeks.

hayzel7773

There is zero space to fit a priority lane. They can't even fit the regular lanes. Look at spillover in T2, it has only gotten bigger bigger as the years have gone by.

l etoile

Please follow this in the Asia forum.

l'etoile
senior moderator

bocastephen

I have connections into airport management at TPE, and I have been pushing for this for years. Current leadership is of the opinion that everyone should be treated the same, and no one should receive special treatment, and this was partly to blame for a long period of non-compliance with TPE's obligations to service APEC cardholders separately.

It's possible the situation will change, and I will continue pushing the issue through my sources, that if TPE wants to be taken seriously as an international transfer point, they need to suck it up and start to understand that while all people are created equal, all customers are NOT created equal and they will need to begin to provide segregated services. There is plenty of space at TPE right now for a side-line directly into the security screening room and directly to a specific lane, but they just won't do it. In fact EVA maintains a priority lane for entry into the transfer security area with their branding, but this could be due to the lease arrangement they have for the terminal space vs the shared security area landside.

There is not, however, any space for a "Gold Track" canopy and 100% segregated entry like you see at NRT, so any type of "fanfare" presentation to welcome priority customers ain't gonna happen until the new terminal opens, and that date is anyone's guess at this point.

What everyone can do, is help me escalate this issue by providing appropriate feedback every time you enter/transit/exit TPE that points out a lack of priority security and immigration when departing TPE dramatically diminishes the usefulness of the airport for business travelers.

s0ssos

HND only allows first class and the highest elite status, not regular Star Alliance gold

s0ssos

And how long did you wait? How long do you wait at other Asian airports?

I found in many airports in Asia they do not have priority lanes but nobody waits a long time. Unlike airports in America

B407

Agreed. Airports like TPE and HND have always seem to have long lines, but they move very quickly.

ijgordon

The issue for me recently (Nov-18) at TPE was the passport control lines, not the security lines. I seem to recall 20-30 minutes both inbound and outbound. It was annoying. That said, HKG also doesn't have priority lanes, and the lines there can be just as bad (or worse), although as a US Passport holder I was able to register for access via the eGates, so that speeds things up a lot.

s0ssos

In Haneda you go through security then passport control/immigration.
If they are separate, I feel very few airports have special passport control lines for certain passengers (talking about exiting).

bocastephen

In Asia, most airports have priority immigration for APEC cardholders - the card is not that difficult to get. TPE has segregated security and immigration for outbound APEC members.

ijgordon

Sorry, my post was referring to TPE, which I edited to clarify. I don't actually remember the exact setup on departure, but we were definitely waiting for immigration on our outbound, we kept joking about all the extra staff members they had directing traffic when less than half the booths were open.

If you mean exiting the airport (as opposed to exiting the country), I generally agree, although I'm pretty sure CDG has a premium (No 1 Access) line for all of inbound/outbound/security/transfer (and AF F pax get escorted through even a more premium line...). At least in 2E.

uanj

Do you know where it is in TPE Terminal 1? I just went through and could not find it. And no one I asked knew where it was, either.

bocastephen

When you are facing the main security entrance, directly in front of it, turn and walk to your left and walk about 2/3 down the terminal along that main pathway and you will see a door on your right that is labeled for special services, diplomats, crew and APEC. Go through the door and follow the hallway to the end, and it will open into a private security lane, which then spits out into a segregated immigration counter.

A couple caveats - the facility is not open all the time - if you are on one of the late night EVA flights, the security area is likely closed, although you can go through regular security and hang to your left and use the APEC immigration option at the main desk. Also, cabin crew will be given priority at this security checkpoint so if you're in line and a group of 20+ crew members comes in the hallway, you may be asked to wait and let them through.

uanj

Thanks!