Taiwan’s largest travel hub is set for a major increase in capacity.
Construction of Terminal 3 is set to begin on Friday and scheduled for completion in 2020.
The terminal is set to service up to 45 million passengers a year, 10 million more than the combined capacity of Terminal 1 and 2.
According to airport authorities, construction will be busiest in the second half of 2018.
Following the terminal’s completion at the end of 2020, the 21-gate Terminal 3 will be ready for service in 2021.
The project has an estimated cost of NT$74.6 billion (S$3.44 billion).
An estimated 40 million passengers passed through the airport in 2016.
While the number of arriving Chinese tourists has fallen in the past year, the government expects passenger volume to continue increasing each year and believes Terminals 1 and 2 are insufficient to meet the growing demand.
Terminal 3’s architectural design includes curves and waves mirroring the island’s mountain ranges and surrounding ocean.
The terminal’s main concourse will include 130,000 dangling metal pipes that will act as sound absorbers and save power consumption by increasing natural lighting.
