The Taiwanese Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) is considering whether or not to close Hengchun airport as result of poor passenger load factors. The airport was opened in 2004 with the aim of boosting tourism to the southern resort town of Kenting.
However, local media reports state the airfield's 1,700m-long runway 14/32 is not capable of handling aircraft larger than the ATR72s currently used by Uni Air (B7, Taipei Sung Shan). In addition, the airfield is subject to very strong katabatic winds which often results in its closure.
As result of both factors, aircraft load factors rarely exceed 40% capacity and have thus lead the TCAA to consider closing the airport during the second half of 2016. Aside from Uni Air, Mandarin Airlines (AE, Taichung Ching Chuan Kang) and TransAsia Airways (Taipei Sung Shan) have both offered scheduled flights to Hengchun in the past.
