Kaohsiung International Airport

Kaohsiung International Airport (Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport) 高雄國際航空站 高雄小港機場 Gāoxióng Guójì Hángkōngzhàn Gāoxióng Xiǎogǎng Jīchǎng
IATA: KHH – ICAO: RCKH
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Civil Aeronautics Administration
Serves	Kaohsiung
Location	Siaogang, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Hub for	China Airlines Eva Air Uni Air Mandarin Airlines Tigerair Taiwan Far Eastern Air Transport
Elevation AMSL	9 m / 30 ft
Coordinates	22°34′37″N 120°21′00″E / 22.57694°N 120.35000°E
Map
KHH Location of airport in Taiwan
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09/27[lower-alpha 1] 3,150 10,335 Concrete 09R/27L 3,150 10,335 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Number of passengers 6,001,487 Aircraft Movements 55,685 Total cargo (metric tonnes) 63,031.2
Source: Civil Aeronautics Administration[1]

Kaohsiung International Airport (Chinese: 高雄國際航空站; pinyin: Gāoxióng guójì hángkōngzhàn; commonly 高雄國際機場; Gāoxióng guójì jīchǎng) (IATA: KHH, ICAO: RCKH), also known as Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport (高雄小港機場; Gāoxióng xiǎogǎng jīchǎng) for the Siaogang District where it is located, is a medium-sized commercial airport in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Kaohsiung International is the third busiest Taiwanese airport, after Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei Songshan Airport, in passenger movement.^[1]

History

Originally built as an Imperial Japanese Army Air Squadron base in 1942 during the Japanese rule era of Taiwan,^[2] 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 an international airport in 1969, with regular international flights starting in 1972.^[3]

During the 1970s and 1980s, direct international flights were rare at the airport, with Hong Kong and Tokyo being the only two destinations. Since the early 1990s, dedicated connection flights to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (now Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport) were inaugurated. This brought southern Taiwan travelers much convenience, as they can transit via the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport where there was a higher availability of international flights. In the meantime, direct flights to Southeast Asia cities were gradually opened. This reduced the inconvenience that travelers in southern Taiwan needed to travel to Taoyuan in the north before flying south. 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 opened a direct flight between Kaohsiung and Los Angeles, but it was discontinued only three months later due to low ridership. Northwest Airlines served Siaogang Airport, operating from Kansai Airport from 1999 to 2001, and Narita Airport from 2002 to 2003. These two routes were separately suspended due to the low load caused by the September 11 attacks and SARS outbreak.

After the Taiwan High Speed Rail's inauguration in January 2007, the Kaohsiung airport suffered great losses in passenger/flight movements; the Taiwan High Speed Rail and record-high costs of jet fuel are eating up most load factors to Taipei Songshan Airport and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (frequent buses link the Taoyuan Airport and the THSR Taoyuan Station). Some carriers dropped the two routes while other carriers reduced flights.

Since 2009, the number of passengers has been recovering due to the opening of regular scheduled cross-strait flights, as well as the rise of low cost carriers.

Terminals

Kaohsiung International Airport terminal building

Kaohsiung International Airport control tower

Kaohsiung International Airport has two terminals – domestic and international. They are connected by a corridor way.

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 bridges 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 in 1997.

The international terminal opened in 1997 and all gates have jet bridges. It serves all international flights and connecting flights to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. While riding a connecting flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, passengers proceed through immigration in Kaohsiung International Airport and do not need to repeat the procedure in Taoyuan, avoiding congestion in Taoyuan and saving time between flights. The floor area for the international terminal is three times more than that of the domestic one.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations	Terminal
AirAsia	Kuala Lumpur–International	International
Air Busan	Busan	International
Air Macau	Macau	International
Cathay Dragon	Hong Kong	International
China Airlines	Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Beijing-Capital, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Kumamoto,[4] Manila, Nanchang, Naha,[4] Osaka-Kansai, Sapporo-Chitose, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Shenzhen, Singapore, Taipei-Taoyuan, Takamatsu, Tokyo-Narita Seasonal: Denpasar/Bali	International
China Eastern Airlines	Nanchang,[5] Nanjing, Wuhan, Wuxi	International
China Southern Airlines	Wuhan	International
Daily Air	Qimei, Wang-an	Domestic
EVA Air	Fukuoka,[6] Guangzhou, Macau, Ningbo, Osaka-Kansai, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Tianjin, Tokyo-Narita, Zhengzhou (begins 27 March 2017)	International[7]
Far Eastern Air Transport	Chengdu,[8] Haikou, Macau (begins 1 December 2016),[9] Nanchang	International
Far Eastern Air Transport	Kinmen,[8] Magong[8]	Domestic
Japan Airlines	Tokyo-Narita	International
Juneyao Airlines	Shanghai-Pudong	International
Mandarin Airlines	Changsha, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Xiamen	International
Mandarin Airlines	Hualien, Magong[10]	Domestic
Peach	Osaka-Kansai[11]	International
Scoot	Osaka-Kansai,[12] Singapore	International
Spring Airlines	Shanghai-Pudong	International
Tigerair Taiwan	Macau,[13] Naha (begins 4 March 2017),[14] Osaka-Kansai,[15] Tokyo-Narita[16]	International
Uni Air	Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Kunming, Wuxi	International
Uni Air	Kinmen, Magong Military Charter: Dongsha Island	Domestic
Vanilla Air	Tokyo-Narita[17]	International
VietJet Air	Ho Chi Minh City (begins 12 December 2016)[18]	International
Vietnam Airlines	Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City	International
XiamenAir	Fuzhou, Xiamen	International

Several airlines such as China Airlines and Uni Air operate charter flights from Kaohsiung to many Japanese cities including Asahigawa, Hakodate, Sapporo, Hanamaki, Obihiro, Nagasaki and Kumamoto, mostly during long vacations.

Statistics

Operations and Statistics [1][19]
Year	Passenger movements	Airfreight movements (tons)	Aircraft movement
2004	7,586,640	87,758.2	86,167
2005	7,374,217	81,453.4	81,718
2006	7,130,321	76,997.0	78,603
2007	5,717,242	70,241.3	67,149
2008	4,160,515	62,139.4	47,793
2009	3,661,023	54,382.0	40,335
2010	4,053,069	64,850.8	41,300
2011	4,050,980	55,364.4	42,596
2012	4,465,794	54,104.5	45,302
2013	4,646,222	55,112.0	46,721
2014	5,397,021	68,767.3	51,681
2015	6,001,487	63,030.8	55,685

Busiest routes from Kaohsiung (2014) ^[20]

Rank	Airport	Category	Passengers 2014	Carriers
1	Hong Kong	International	1,464,142	China Airlines, Dragonair
2	Makung	Domestic	705,860	Far Eastern Air Transport, TransAsia Airways, Uni Air
3	Kinmen	Domestic	433,827	Far Eastern Air Transport, TransAsia Airways, Uni Air
4	Tokyo-Narita	International	325,668	China Airlines, EVA Air, Japan Airlines, Vanilla Air
5	Macau	International	316,174	Air Macau, EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, TransAsia Airways
6	Shanghai-Pudong	International	286,238	China Airlines, EVA Air, Juneyao Airlines, Spring Airlines
7	Osaka-Kansai	International	199,854	China Airlines, EVA Air, Peach
8	Seoul-Incheon	International	162,889	China Airlines, EVA Air, Mandarin Airlines
9	Ho Chi Minh City	International	143,106	Mandarin Airlines, Vietnam Airlines
10	Taipei-Taoyuan	Domestic-International	137,032	China Airlines

Accidents and incidents

• On 15 February 1969, a Douglas C-47B B-241 of Far Eastern Air Transport was damaged beyond economic repair in an accident at Kaohsiung International Airport.^[21]

• On 27 June 1989, a Cessna 404 Titan of Formosa Airlines on its way to Wang-an, Penghu crashed into nearby Cianjhen District streets shortly after takeoff. All 12 people on board were killed; there were no ground casualties.^[22]

• On 23 July 2014, TransAsia Airways Flight 222 took off from Kaohsiung International Airport bound for Magong Airport. The ATR 72-500 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

• Subway/Train: Kaohsiung MRT red line's Kaohsiung International Airport Station has outlets in the international and domestic terminals. Passengers can use the Kaohsiung MRT Red Line to access Taiwan Railway at Kaohsiung Station and Taiwan High Speed Rail at Zuoying Station.
• Bus: Several city bus lines serve the airport. Long-distance buses to Fangliao and Kenting National Park are available.
• Taxi: Available in both terminals.

See also

• Transportation in Taiwan

Footnotes

1. ex-09L/27R

References

1. "民航運輸各機場營運量－按機場分" (PDF). CAA. CAA. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
2. Hung, Chih-wen (2015). 不沈空母 : 台灣島內飛行場百年發展史 [The history of airfields and airports in Taiwan] (in Chinese). 洪致文. ISBN 9789574325153.
3. "History of Taiwan Kaohsiung Airport (KHH): Airport History and Facts, Kaohsiung Area, Taiwan".
4. 2016, UBM (UK) Ltd. "China Airlines Proposes Kaohsiung – Japan Service Expansion in S16".
5. China Eastern Adds New Routes to Kaohsiung in S14. Airline Route (10 April 2014).
6. "EVA Air Adds Kaohsiung - Fukuoka from late-March 2015". Airline Route. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
7. themecool.com: The Leading Theme Cool Site on the Net. Evaair.themecool.com.
8. "Far Eastern Air Transport May 2016 Route Timetable" (PDF). Far Eastern Air Transport. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
9. "Far Eastern Air Transport files Macau schedule from Dec 2016". Airline Route. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.,
10. "Mandarin Airlines adds new domestic route from Nov 2016". routesonline. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
11. "http://www.flypeach.com/Portals/0/PressReleases/2013/131025-Press-Release-E.pdf" (PDF). External link in |title= (help)
12. "Scoot Proposes New Japan Routes via Taiwan / Thailand from July 2015". Airline Route.
13. "tigerair Taiwan to Start Macau Service from Dec 2014". Airline Route. 2 December 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
14. "tigerair Taiwan adds Kaohsiung – Okinawa route in Mar 2017". routesonline. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
15. "tigerair Taiwan Adds Kaohsiung - Osaka; Bangkok Service Reductions from July 2015". Airlineroute.net. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
16. "tigerair Taiwan to Start Kaohsiung - Tokyo Service from Sep 2015". Airlineroute.net. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
17. Yoshikawa, Tadayuki (7 August 2014). "バニラエア、11月から香港、15年2月に高雄就航へ". Aviation Wire. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
18. "Vietjet Air adds Kaohsiung service from Dec 2016". routesonline. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
19. "民航運輸各機場營運量－按機場分" (PDF). CAA ROC (in Chinese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
20. "高雄國際機場國際及兩岸定期航線班機載客率－按航線分" (PDF). CAA. CAA. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
21. "B-241 Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
22. Formosa Airlines. Baaa-acro.com.

External links

Media related to Kaohsiung International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Kaohsiung International Airport Official website
• Guide to Kaohsiung Airport
• Airport information for RCKH at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.