Taichung Shuinan Airport () was an airport located in

Xitun District Xitun District or Situn District (, literally "western village") is the second-most populated district of Taichung, Taiwan. It is located on the western side of the city. Once considered part of the countryside, the district has seen rapid growt ...

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It had an area of 250 hectares. The name originates from Shuinan, a village in nearby

Beitun District Beitun District (; lit: northern camp) is a district in Taichung, Taiwan. Located in the northern part of the city, it is a half mountainous, half urban area. Though Beitun District used to be considered part of the countryside, the new Taiyuan ...

History

Shuinan Airport was built during the

Japanese rule of Taiwan The Geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, together with the Penghu, Penghu Islands, became a Dependent territory, dependency of Empire of Japan, Japan in 1895, when the Qing dynasty ceded Taiwan Province, Fujian-Taiwan Province in the Treaty ...

for the

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 ...

, while also provided commercial flights, the only airport in

Taichū Prefecture was one of the administrative divisions of Japanese Taiwan. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Taichung City, Changhua County and Nantou County. It is also the origin of the name of modern-day Taichung. The Taichū Prefecture was the scene ...

to do so. The airport provided scheduled flights directly to Japan. During World War II, Shuinan Airport was also used for ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

'' missions. After the

Surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

, the

Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force, retroactively known by its historical name the Chinese Air Force and unofficially referred to as the Taiwanese Air Force, is the military aviation branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces, currently based i ...

took control of the airport. The airport was the only military site in Taichung not taken by civilians during the February 28 Incident. Between 1950 and 1980, Shuinan Airport became an important hub for Taiwan's aerospace industry, being home to the

Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC; 漢翔航空工業 or 漢翔航空) is a Taiwan, Taiwanese aerospace company based in Taichung. It is one of only two Taiwanese companies with the capabilities of a traditional American or Eu ...

. Between 1946 and 1970, the airport was only used for military purposes. However, commercial flights were first offered in 1971 with the construction of a passenger terminal. The airport also saw increased traffic with the Taiwan Provincial Government's move to

Zhongxing New Village Zhongxing New Village, sometimes rendered as Chunghsing New Village is an urban village located in Nantou City, Nantou County, Taiwan (ROC) and was until 2018, when the Taiwan Provincial Government was abolished, was the seat of government of ...

in central Taiwan. With the rapid development of Taichung City, the airport was gradually surrounded with buildings, limiting its growth. To facilitate for international flights, all flights were moved to Ching Chuan Kang Airport on March 5, 2004. The site of Shuinan Airport and its surrounding land were developed into the

Taichung Shuinan Economic and Trade Park The Shuinan Economic and Trade Park () is an industrial park in Xitun District, Taichung, Taiwan. History The industrial park was built on the former Taichung Shuinan Airport site, which also included decommissioned air force base and agricultu ...

. With the

National Airborne Service Corps The National Airborne Service Corps (NASC; ) is the sole agency of the Republic of China (Taiwan) that operates aircraft and helicopters besides military and paramilitary units. The agency is responsible for executing and providing aerial supp ...

moving to Ching Chuan Kang in August 2012, Shuinan Airport officially ceased operations.

References

1911 establishments in Taiwan 2010 disestablishments in Taiwan Former buildings and structures in Taiwan Defunct airports in Taiwan {{Taiwan-airport-stub