Kaohsiung International Airport

Kaohsiung International Airport (高雄國際機場^[b]) (IATA: KHH, ICAO: RCKH) is a medium-sized civil airport in Siaogang District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, also known as Siaogang Airport (小港機場; Xiǎogǎng jīchǎng). With nearly seven million passengers in 2018, it is the second busiest airport in Taiwan, after Taoyuan.^[1] The airport has a single east–west runway and two terminals: one international and one domestic.

Kaohsiung International Airport 高雄國際航空站
IATA: KHH ICAO: RCKH
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	Civil Aeronautics Administration
Serves	Kaohsiung
Location	Siaogang District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Opened	1 July 1965; 57 years ago (1965-07-01)
Hub for	China Airlines EVA Air Uni Air Mandarin Airlines Tigerair Taiwan
Elevation AMSL	9 m / 30 ft
Coordinates	22°34′37″N 120°21′00″E / 22.57694°N 120.35000°E / 22.57694; 120.35000Coordinates: 22°34′37″N 120°21′00″E / 22.57694°N 120.35000°E / 22.57694; 120.35000
Map
KHH Location of airport in Kaohsiung Show map of Kaohsiung KHH Location of airport in Taiwan Show map of Taiwan KHH Location of airport in East Asia Show map of Southeast Asia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09/27^[a] 3,150 10,335 Concrete
Statistics (2019)
Number of passengers 7,496,336 Aircraft Movements 60,155 Total cargo (metric tonnes) 73,541.6
Source: Civil Aeronautics Administration^[1]

Kaohsiung International Airport
Traditional Chinese	高雄國際機場
Simplified Chinese	高雄国际机场
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gāoxióng Gúojì Jīchǎng Bopomofo ㄍㄠ ㄒㄩㄥˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄐㄧˋ ㄐㄧ ㄔㄤˇ Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Kô-hiùng Koet-chi Kî-chhòng Southern Min Hokkien POJ Ko-hiông Kok-chè Ki-tiûⁿ
Siaogang International Airport
Traditional Chinese	小港國際機場
Simplified Chinese	小港国际机场
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiǎogǎng Guójì Jīchǎng Bopomofo ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄍㄤˇ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄐㄧˋ ㄐㄧ ㄔㄤˇ Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Séu-kóng Koet-chi Kî-chhòng Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sió-káng Kok-chè Ki-tiûⁿ

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 the status 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.^{[citation needed]} Since the early 1990s, dedicated connection flights to Taipei 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.^[4]

In summer 1998, EVA Air opened a direct flight between Kaohsiung and Los Angeles, but it was discontinued only after six months.^[5] Northwest Airlines operated the Kaohsiung–Osaka route from 1999 to 2001, and the Tokyo route from 2002 to 2003. These two routes were separately suspended due to the low load caused by the September 11 attacks and SARS outbreak.^{[citation needed]}

After Taiwan High Speed Rail, the high speed rail 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.^[6]

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.

The domestic terminal was built in 1965 when the facility was first opened as a civilian airport.^{[citation needed]} 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. 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

 

Countries with direct flights to Kaohsiung and top 20 cities in 2016

Airlines	Destinations	Ref
AirAsia	Kuala Lumpur–International	^[7]
Air Busan	Seoul–Incheon	^[8]
Air Macau	Macau (resumes 23 February 2023)	^[9]
Asiana Airlines	Seoul–Incheon	^[10]^[11]^[12]
Bamboo Airways	Hanoi	^[13]
Cathay Pacific	Hong Kong
China Airlines	Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi,^[14] Hong Kong (resumes 1 March 2023),^[15] Manila, Naha, Osaka–Kansai,^[16] Seoul–Incheon,^[17] Shanghai–Pudong, Tokyo–Narita^[18]
Daily Air	Qimei, Wang-an
EVA Air	Fukuoka (resumes 1 May 2023), Guangzhou, Macau (resumes 3 May 2023), Osaka–Kansai,^[19] Seoul–Incheon (resumes 1 May 2023), Shanghai–Pudong, Tokyo–Narita^[20]
HK Express	Hong Kong
Japan Airlines	Tokyo–Narita
Jeju Air	Seoul–Incheon	^[21]
Juneyao Airlines	Shanghai–Pudong
Mandarin Airlines	Changsha, Hangzhou, Hualien, Penghu, Xiamen
Peach	Naha, Osaka–Kansai, Tokyo–Narita
Philippines AirAsia	Manila	^[22]
Thai Smile	Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi	^[23]^[24]
Tigerair Taiwan	Fukuoka,^[25] Macau, Nagoya–Centrair,^[26] Naha, Osaka–Kansai, Tokyo–Narita^[27]
T'way Air	Seoul–Incheon	^[28]
Uni Air	Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Kinmen, Kunming, Penghu, Qingdao, Wuxi	^[29]
VietJet Air	Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam Airlines	Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City Charter: Can Tho

Several airlines such as China Airlines and Uni Air operate charter flights from Kaohsiung to many Japanese cities including Asahikawa, Hakodate, Sapporo, Hanamaki, Obihiro, Nagasaki and Kumamoto, mostly during long vacations.^{[citation needed]}

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at KHH airport. See Wikidata query.

Operations and Statistics ^[30]
Year	Passenger movements	Airfreight movements (tons)	Aircraft movement
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
2016	6,416,681	71,447.8	57,446
2017	6,479,183	81,555.3	51,768
2018	6,973,845	73,541.6	60,155
2019

Busiest routes from Kaohsiung (2019) ^[31][32]

Rank	Airport	Passengers	% Change 2019/18	Carriers
1	Hong Kong	1,339,144	1.6%	China Airlines
2	Penghu	895,211	6.8%	Uni Air, Far Eastern Air Transport
3	Tokyo–Narita	595,239	1.3%	China Airlines, EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Japan Airlines, Vanilla Air
4	Osaka–Kansai	528,103	10.0%	China Airlines, EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Peach, Scoot
5	Kinmen	468,563	5.0%	Uni Air, Far Eastern Air Transport
6	Macau	443,679	16.1%	EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Air Macau
7	Seoul–Incheon	413,954	21.9%	China Airlines, EVA Air, Jeju Air, T'way Air
8	Shanghai–Pudong	303,609	4.2%	China Airlines, EVA Air, Juneyao Airlines, Spring Airlines
9	Naha	296,631	35.1%	China Airlines, Tigerair Taiwan, Peach
10	Ho Chi Minh City	277,657	3.2%	Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air

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.^[33]
• 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.^[34]
• On 23 July 2014, TransAsia Airways Flight 222 took off from Kaohsiung International Airport bound for Magong. 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

• Rail: The airport is served by Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Red line at Kaohsiung International Airport, providing access to Taiwan Railways at Kaohsiung Main Station and Taiwan High Speed Rail at Zuoying.
• Coach: There is a one-way coach from Kaohsiung International Airport to Fangliao and Kenting.
• 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)
• Transportation in Taiwan
• List of airports in Taiwan

Footnotes

1. ex-09L/27R
2. Official name in Chinese is 高雄國際航空站

References

1. (PDF). CAA. CAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. 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". www.kaohsiung-khh.airports-guides.com. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
4. "Kaohsiung International Airport". Travel King. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
5. "1998: EVA Air Summer network". Routes. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
6. "2016 Annual Report". kia.gov.tw. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
7. "AirAsia Resumes Kuala Lumpur – Kaohsiung Service From Nov 2022". Aeroroutes. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
8. Liu, Jim. "Air Busan revises 4Q19 International routes launch". Routesonline. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
9. "Air Macau Feb/Mar 2023 Regional / International Service Increases". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
10. "Asiana Airlines adds Kaohsiung scheduled charters in Sep/Oct 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
11. "Asiana Airlines W19 Taiwan service changes as of 07OCT19". Routesonline. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
12. "아시아나, 가오슝·푸꾸옥 부정기편 '정기노선' 전환… 신규 수요 발굴" (in Korean). New Daily Economy. 4 October 2014.
13. Liu, Jim. "Bamboo Airways delays new International routes launch to August 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
14. China Airlines Kaohsiung – Bangkok 1Q23 Service Changes Aeroroutes. 27 October 2022.
15. "China Airlines Resumes Kaohsiung – Hong Kong Service in March 2023". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
16. China Airlines Northeast Asia NW22 Service Changes – 27OCT22 Aeroroutes. 27 October 2022.
17. China Airlines Northeast Asia NW22 Service Changes – 27OCT22 Aeroroutes. 27 October 2022.
18. China Airlines Northeast Asia NW22 Service Changes – 27OCT22 Aeroroutes. 27 October 2022.
19. EVA Air NW22 Japan Operations – 30SEP22 Aeroroutes. 30 September 2022.
20. EVA Air NW22 Japan Operations – 30SEP22 Aeroroutes. 30 September 2022.
21. "Jeju Air adds Jeju – Kaohsiung service from Oct 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
22. Vibal, Leana (9 December 2022). "This Low-Cost Airline Is Flying Direct to Kaohsiung in 2023". SPOT.ph. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
23. "Thai Smile plans Chiang Mai – Kaohsiung service from Jan 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
24. "Thai Smile Resumes Kaohsiung Service From Dec 2022". Aeroroutes. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
25. "tigerair Taiwan NW22 Operation Changes – 13OCT22". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
26. "tigerair Taiwan NW22 Operation Changes – 13OCT22". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
27. "tigerair Taiwan NW22 Operation Changes – 13OCT22". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
28. "T'Way Air adds Busan – Kaohsiung from Sep 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
29. "UNI Air resumes Kaohsiung – Qingdao service from late-Sep 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
30. "民航運輸各機場營運量－按機場分" (PDF). CAA ROC (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 January 2018.
31. "國際及兩岸定期航線班機載客率－按航線分" (PDF). CAA. CAA. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
32. "國內航線班機載客率－按航空公司及航線分" (PDF). CAA (in Chinese). Retrieved 28 January 2019.
33. "B-241 Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
34. Formosa Airlines 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Baaa-acro.com.

External links

  Media related to Kaohsiung International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Kaohsiung International Airport Official website
• Guide to Kaohsiung Airport
• Office of “E-VAT Refund”