Hualien Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Hualien Airport
nativename =
nativename-a = 花蓮機場
nativename-r =

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image-width =
caption =
IATA = HUN
ICAO = RCYU
type = Public
owner =
operator = Civil Aeronautics Administration|
city-served =
location = Hualien City
elevation-f = 52
elevation-m = 16
coordinates = Coord|24|01|23|N|121|37|04|E|type:airport|display=inline,title
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 03/21
r1-length-f = 9,022
r1-length-m = 2,750
r1-surface = Concrete
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
stat2-header =
stat2-data =
footnotes =

Hualien Airport (花蓮機場) Airport codes|HUN|RCYU is a commercial airport located in a 11.5 hectare civilian area of a military airbase in Hualien, Taiwan. It primary serves domestic flights although it can handle international charter flights as well. The proximity of Hualien Airport to a military base has caused some tension between travelers, airline officials, and the Republic of China Air Force, especially when civilian flights are cancelled due to war games exercises.

History

The airport was opened on May 16, 1962 for military and domestic civilian use. Prior to this time, Hualien was a military gravel airfield.

On August 24, 1999, a Uni Air MD-90 flight from Taipei carrying 96 passengers and crew exploded just after it landed at Hualien. The blast injured 28 people and killed one, although a pregnant woman miscarried days later. An investigation revealed that former Taiwanese decathlete [http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/古金水 Ku Chin-shui] (古金水), who was not aboard the flight, had given bottles of flammable liquid to his nephew to transport. Ku was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, but a later trial upon his appeal found him not guilty on December 27, 2004. [http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2004/new/dec/28/today-so9.htm]

On April 27, 2001, Hualien Airport became certified to serve international flights, specifically charter flights to and from Japan. The first Japanese charter arrived at Hualien on October 1, 2001. Charter flights to South Korea began on August 8, 2004, and charters to Macau began on October 19, 2004. There has also been discussion of using Hualien for charter flights to mainland China under the Three Links scheme.

Expansion

Because Hualien City is a popular gateway into Taroko National Park, the airport became too small and outdated for the growing number of tourists. It underwent a significant expansion between 2002-2005 in anticipation of increased traffic from international charters and in an effort to spur local economic development. Plans called for new passenger and cargo terminals, new air bridges, and a new apron. The new passenger terminal was opened on March 19, 2004, at a cost of NT$2.3 billion (USD$69 million). It incorporates design cues from both classical Chinese and Aboriginal Taiwanese architecture, though the building overall has a modern look with copious use of granite, marble, steel, and glass. Hualien's terminal is one of only three airport terminals in Taiwan whose layout allows aviation enthusiasts clear views of takeoffs and landings (the other two being Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei, and Kaohsiung International Airport, Kaohsiung). However, even though the new terminal was designed to serve international clientele, the airport so far has neither the level of passenger usage nor the appropriate aircraft maintenance ground services to merit "international" status. A major problem has been that the airport's waste disposal facilities are still inadequate to accommodate even the current volume of arriving flights. Nevertheless, Hualien Airport served as the departure point for King Mswati III of Swaziland on May 24, 2004, following a state visit.

Airlines

*China Airlines
**Mandarin Airlines (Kaohsiung, Taichung)
*TransAsia Airways (Taipei-Songshan)

External links

* [http://www.hulairport.gov.tw/ Hualien Airport official website]
* [http://www.farecompare.com/flights/Hualien-HUN/city.html Destinations from Hualien]
*WAD|RCYU
* [http://www.fas.org/irp/world/taiwan/facility/hualien.htm Hualien Air Base] , Federation of American Scientists