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Kaohsiung International Airport () is a medium-sized civil airport in Siaogang District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, also known as Siaogang Airport (). With nearly seven million passengers in 2018, it is the second busiest airport in Taiwan, after Taoyuan. The airport has a single east–west runway and two terminals: one international and one domestic.


History

Originally built as an
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
Air Squadron base in 1942 during the Japanese rule era of Taiwan, Kaohsiung Airport retained its military purpose when the Republic of China government first took control of Taiwan in 1945. Due to the need for civil transportation in southern Taiwan, it was demilitarised and converted into a domestic civil airport in 1965, and further upgraded to the status an international airport in 1969, with regular international flights starting in 1972. During the 1970s and 1980s, direct international flights were rare at the airport, with
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
and
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
being the only two destinations. Since the early 1990s, dedicated connection flights to
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
were inaugurated, bringing convenience to the south as Taipei had more international flights. These contributed to a steady growth in airport passenger and flight movements. A new terminal dedicated to international flights was opened in 1997. In summer 1998,
EVA Air EVA Airways Corporation (pronounced as three letters: ; ) (), of which "EVA" stands for Evergreen Airways, is a Taiwanese international airline based at Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei, Taiwan, operating passenger and dedicated ca ...
opened a direct flight between Kaohsiung and
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, but it was discontinued only after six months.
Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...
operated the Kaohsiung–
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
route from 1999 to 2001, and the
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
route from 2002 to 2003. These two routes were separately suspended due to the low load caused by the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
and SARS outbreak. After
Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the high-speed railway of Taiwan consisting of one line that runs approximately along the west coast, from the capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung. With construction and operations managed by a pri ...
, the
high speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
line that runs between Taipei and Kaohsiung along Taiwan's western plains, began operation in January 2007, Kaohsiung Airport suffered large reduction in passenger and flight movements. The convenience of Taiwan High Speed Rail and record-high costs of jet fuel were eating up most load factors to Taipei, caused flights between cities on Taiwan's western plains to cease operation, with the last domestic flight between Taipei Songshan and Kaohsiung ceased operation on 31 August 2012. The dedicated international connecting flight between Kaohsiung and Taoyuan stopped on 1 July 2017, after over thirty years of operation. Kaohsiung Airport has added direct flights to China's Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, and has since added flights to Shenzhen, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Changsha, Beijing, Kunming, Zhengzhou, Guilin, Qingdao and Chengdu. Since 2009, the number of passengers has been recovering due to the opening of regular scheduled cross-strait flights to China, as well as the rise of
low cost carriers A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
.


Terminals

Kaohsiung International Airport has two terminals – domestic and international. They are connected by a corridor. The domestic terminal was built in 1965 when the facility was first opened as a civilian airport. Through the years, it has undergone small expansions and improvements, but
jet bridge A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...
s have never been added. (The domestic terminal primarily serves smaller planes that do not require jet bridges.) The current domestic terminal building also served international flights before the opening of the new international terminal. The international terminal opened in 1997 and all gates have jet bridges. It serves all international and cross-strait flights to China. The floor area for the international terminal is three times more than that of the domestic one.


Airlines and destinations

Several airlines such as
China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; ) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of its two major airlines along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly (in ...
and Uni Air operate charter flights from Kaohsiung to many Japanese cities including
Asahikawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiy ...
,
Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...
,
Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...
,
Hanamaki is a Cities of Japan, city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 94,691, and a population density of 100 persons per km², in 37,773 households. The total area of the city is . Hanamaki is famous as the birthplace ...
,
Obihiro is a city in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Obihiro is the only designated city in the Tokachi area. As of February 29, 2020, the city has an estimated population of 165,851. The next most populous municipality in Tokachi is the ...
,
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...
and
Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...
, mostly during long vacations.


Statistics


Accidents and incidents

*On 15 February 1969, a
Douglas C-47B The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to su ...
B-241 of
Far Eastern Air Transport FAT Taiwan Inc., () doing business as Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT), was an airline with its head office in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan ( Republic of China). Established in 1957, it operated domestic services from Taipei and Kaohsiu ...
was damaged beyond economic repair in an accident at Kaohsiung International Airport. *On 27 June 1989, a
Cessna 404 Titan The Cessna Model 404 Titan is an American twin-engined, light aircraft built by Cessna Aircraft. It was that company's largest twin piston-engined aircraft at the time of its development in the 1970s. Its US military designation is C-28, and ...
of
Formosa Airlines Formosa Airlines () was a Taiwanese regional airline operating an extensive network of domestic routes out of its bases at Taipei Songshan Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport. Its headquarters were in Taipei. History The company was foun ...
on its way to Wang-an, Penghu crashed into nearby
Cianjhen District Cianjhen District () is a district in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. It covers an area of and is subdivided into 59 villiages. The District has a population is 180,828, as of May 2022. It is the fifth-most populated district in Kaohsiung, with a popu ...
streets shortly after takeoff. All 12 people on board were killed; there were no ground casualties.Formosa Airlines
. Baaa-acro.com. *On 23 July 2014,
TransAsia Airways Flight 222 TransAsia Airways Flight 222 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by TransAsia Airways from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to Magong, Penghu Island. On 23 July 2014, the ATR 72-500 twin turboprop operating the route crashed into buildings dur ...
took off from Kaohsiung International Airport bound for
Magong Magong ( POJ: ''Má-keng'') is a county-administered city and seat of Penghu County, Taiwan. Magong City is located on Penghu's main island. Name The settlement's temple honoring the Chinese Goddess Mazu, the deified form of Lin Moniang ...
. The
ATR 72-500 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (french: Avions de transport régional or it, Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed ...
crashed into buildings during a second attempt to land in bad weather. Of the 58 people on board, only 10 survived. 5 people on the ground were injured and the crash caused a fire involving two homes.


Ground transportation

*Rail: The airport is served by
Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Kaohsiung Metro () is a rapid transit and light rail system covering the metropolitan area of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Its rapid transit network is known as Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit or Kaohsiung MRT. Construction of the MRT started in October 200 ...
at , providing access to Taiwan Railways at and
Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the high-speed railway of Taiwan consisting of one line that runs approximately along the west coast, from the capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung. With construction and operations managed by a pri ...
at . *Coach: There is a one-way coach from Kaohsiung International Airport to and
Kenting Kenting National Park (), commonly known as Kenting (), is a national park located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan, covering Hengchun, Checheng, and Manzhou Townships. Established on 1 January 1984, it is Taiwan's oldest ...
. *Local bus: Both terminals are served by local buses *Car rental: a car rental centre is located between the terminals, near the airport bus stop. *Taxis: Yellow taxis are available. A roaming taxi stop is at right side of International Terminal. There are also 2 Queuing taxi stops at the airport, one is at left side of International Terminal, another one is at the left side of Domestic Terminal.


See also

*
Civil Aeronautics Administration (Taiwan) The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA; ) is a government agency of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of China, Taiwan, which is responsible for the regulation of all civil aviation activities. CAA operates the ...
*
Transportation in Taiwan Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...
*
List of airports in Taiwan This is a list of airports in Taiwan, grouped by type and sorted by number of passengers. Airports Airport names shown in bold indicate the airport currently has regular international flights. See also * Transportation in Taiwan Trans ...


Footnotes


References


External links


Kaohsiung International Airport Official websiteGuide to Kaohsiung AirportOffice of “E-VAT Refund”
{{Kaohsiung 1942 establishments in Taiwan Airports established in 1942 Airports in Kaohsiung