Taiwan Interior Minister Warns Relocating Songshan Airport Would Disrupt Northern Rescue Flights; No Alternative Base Exists

Taiwan's Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang warned on October 20, 2026, that relocating Taipei Songshan Airport would affect emergency rescue operations across northern Taiwan. She said the government has no alternative base for the rescue fleet stationed there. Liu spoke to reporters at the Legislative Yuan before taking questions from lawmakers.

Liu said the NASC unit based at Songshan mainly supports emergency rescue for cities and counties in northern Taiwan and for outlying islands such as Matsu. She said northern local governments currently have no second option for the corps' rescue aircraft and equipment. The Executive Yuan has already set aside NT$3.5 billion (about US$109 million) to upgrade the corps' facilities and equipment. Liu said a move would undeniably disrupt those rescue capabilities and urged the public to understand the real needs of rescue work on the outlying islands.

The issue arises from a proposal by Chiang, of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), who on October 8 unveiled a plan, as part of his reelection campaign, to turn the roughly 300-hectare airport site into an artificial intelligence park. He has pointed to the third terminal and new runway under construction at Taoyuan International Airport as eventual replacements for Songshan's capacity. Chiang has also argued that patients needing medical evacuation to Taipei could be flown into Taoyuan and then moved by a dedicated highway "green corridor" or by high-speed rail.

Central government agencies have pushed back on the plan. Deputy Interior Minister Ma Shih-yuan earlier called Songshan indispensable for search and rescue in northern Taiwan. The Executive Yuan has listed the airport's other roles, including flights to the outlying islands, medical air transport, international routes, backup for Taoyuan, and a military airbase defending the capital.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Puma Shen, Chiang's main challenger in the Taipei race, has also questioned whether the plan comes with workable alternatives.

Transportation Minister Chen Shih-kai said on October 20 that he was not sure what Chiang meant by a green corridor. Chen said relocating an airport and designing patient-transfer systems are highly technical matters and suggested Chiang hold in-depth talks with the relevant ministries. He added that since he called on the Taipei City Government to engage with his ministry the previous week, the city has not been in touch.

Songshan illustrates a common pattern in dense metropolitan areas: an airport that looks like a candidate for redevelopment on passenger-capacity grounds also hosts functions that do not transfer easily. Rescue helicopters, medical air transport, outlying-island services and a military airbase all depend on being close to the city they serve, and each has its own facility, crew and response-time requirements. Replacing the runway capacity at another airport does not by itself replace those roles.

The ministers' objections are framed around operational continuity rather than airport capacity. The NT$3.5 billion upgrade already committed to the rescue corps' facilities shows the government is investing in Songshan as a base, which makes any relocation a question of where that investment and the fleet would go. For aviation operators, the practical test of any closure proposal is a named, equipped replacement site with demonstrated response times, not a statement that another airport has spare capacity.

The next milestone is whether Chiang's campaign opens the in-depth talks with the transportation and interior ministries that Chen suggested, and whether those talks produce a specific alternative for the rescue fleet.