Kaohsiung International Airport

Kaohsiung International Airport (高雄國際機場[lower-alpha 2]) (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
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorCivil Aeronautics Administration
ServesKaohsiung
LocationSiaogang District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Opened1 July 1965 (1965-07-01)
Hub for
Elevation AMSL9 m / 30 ft
Coordinates22°34′37″N 120°21′00″E
Map
KHH is located in Kaohsiung
KHH
KHH
Location of airport in Kaohsiung
KHH is located in Taiwan
KHH
KHH
Location of airport in Taiwan
KHH is located in Southeast Asia
KHH
KHH
Location of airport in East Asia
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
09/27[lower-alpha 1] 3,150 10,335 Concrete
Statistics (2019)
Number of passengers7,496,336 Increase
Aircraft Movements60,155
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
Siaogang International Airport
Traditional Chinese小港國際機場
Simplified Chinese小港国际机场

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. 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.

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. 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
AirlinesDestinationsRef
AirAsia Kuala Lumpur–International [7]
Air Busan Busan [8]
Air Macau Macau [9]
Bamboo Airways Da Nang, Hanoi[10]
Cathay Pacific Hong Kong
China Airlines Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi,[11] Hong Kong,[12] Manila, Naha, Osaka–Kansai,[13] Seoul–Gimpo,[14] Seoul–Incheon,[15] Shanghai–Pudong, Shenzhen,[16] Singapore (resumes 9 December 2023),[17] Tokyo–Narita[18]
China Eastern Airlines Nanjing[19]
Daily Air Qimei, Wang-an
EVA Air Fukuoka, Macau, Osaka–Kansai,[20] Seoul–Incheon, Shanghai–Pudong, Tokyo–Narita[21]
HK Express Hong Kong
Japan Airlines Tokyo–Narita
Juneyao Air Shanghai–Pudong
Mandarin Airlines Hangzhou, Hualien, Kinmen, Penghu, Xiamen
Peach Naha, Osaka–Kansai, Tokyo–Narita
Philippines AirAsia Manila [22]
Thai Airways International Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi [23]
Tigerair Taiwan Da Nang,[24] Fukuoka,[25] Ibaraki,[26] Macau, Nagoya–Centrair,[27] Naha, Osaka–Kansai, Seoul–Gimpo,[28] Tokyo–Narita[29]
T'way Air Seoul–Incheon[30]
Uni Air Kinmen, Penghu
VietJet Air Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam Airlines Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City
Charter: Can Tho
XiamenAir Fuzhou,[31] Xiamen [32]

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.

Statistics
Annual passenger traffic at KHH airport. See Wikidata query.
Operations and Statistics [33]
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) [34][35]
Rank Airport Passengers % Change 2019/18 Carriers
1 Hong Kong Hong Kong 1,339,144 Decrease 1.6% China Airlines
2 Taiwan Penghu 895,211 Increase 6.8% Uni Air, Far Eastern Air Transport
3 Japan Tokyo–Narita 595,239 Decrease 1.3% China Airlines, EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Japan Airlines, Vanilla Air
4 Japan Osaka–Kansai 528,103 Increase 10.0% China Airlines, EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Peach, Scoot
5 Taiwan Kinmen 468,563 Increase 5.0% Uni Air, Far Eastern Air Transport
6 Macau Macau 443,679 Increase 16.1% EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Air Macau
7 South Korea Seoul–Incheon 413,954 Increase 21.9% China Airlines, EVA Air, Jeju Air, T'way Air
8 China Shanghai–Pudong 303,609 Increase 4.2% China Airlines, EVA Air, Juneyao Airlines, Spring Airlines
9 Japan Naha 296,631 Increase 35.1% China Airlines, Tigerair Taiwan, Peach
10 Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City 277,657 Increase 3.2% Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air

Accidents and incidents

Ground transportation

See also

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

References
  1. "民航運輸各機場營運量－按機場分" (PDF). 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. Liu, Jim. "Bamboo Airways delays new International routes launch to August 2020". Routesonline. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  11. China Airlines Kaohsiung – Bangkok 1Q23 Service Changes Aeroroutes. 27 October 2022.
  12. "China Airlines Resumes Kaohsiung – Hong Kong Service in March 2023". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  13. China Airlines Northeast Asia NW22 Service Changes – 27OCT22 Aeroroutes. 27 October 2022.
  14. "中華航空高雄出發 每週三班直飛首爾金浦". China Airlines. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  15. China Airlines Northeast Asia NW22 Service Changes – 27OCT22 Aeroroutes. 27 October 2022.
  16. "China Airlines 2Q23 Kaohsiung – Hong Kong Frequency Changes". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  17. "China Airlines Resumes Kaohsiung – Singapore Service From Dec 2023". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  18. China Airlines Northeast Asia NW22 Service Changes – 27OCT22 Aeroroutes. 27 October 2022.
  19. "东航恢复南京飞台湾航线". Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  20. EVA Air NW22 Japan Operations – 30SEP22 Aeroroutes. 30 September 2022.
  21. EVA Air NW22 Japan Operations – 30SEP22 Aeroroutes. 30 September 2022.
  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 Airways International NW23 Taiwan Service Changes – 28AUG23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  24. "tigerair Taiwan Expands Vietnam Service in NS23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  25. "tigerair Taiwan NW22 Operation Changes – 13OCT22". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  26. "Ibaraki Airport Operations – 1JUL23". Ibaraki Airport. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  27. "tigerair Taiwan NW22 Operation Changes – 13OCT22". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  28. "tigerair Taiwan Begins Kaohsiung – Seoul Gimpo Service in late-June 2023". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  29. "tigerair Taiwan NW22 Operation Changes – 13OCT22". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  30. "T'Way Air adds Busan – Kaohsiung from Sep 2019". Routesonline. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  31. "Mainland Chinese Carriers NS23 International / Regional Network – 14MAY23". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  32. "Xiamen Airlines resumes Kaohsiung Service from Late-Feb 2023". AeroRoutes. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  33. "民航運輸各機場營運量－按機場分" (PDF). CAA ROC (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  34. "國際及兩岸定期航線班機載客率－按航線分" (PDF). CAA. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  35. "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.
  36. "B-241 Accident Description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  37. Formosa Airlines Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Baaa-acro.com.

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