Kaohsiung International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Kaohsiung International Airport
nativename =
nativename-a = 高雄國際機場
nativename-r =


image-width =
caption =
IATA = KHH
ICAO = RCKH
type = Public
owner =
operator = Civil Aeronautics Administration
city-served = Kaohsiung
location =
elevation-f = 31
elevation-m = 9
coordinates = Coord|22|34|37|N|120|21|00|E|type:airport
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 09/27
r1-length-f = 10,335
r1-length-m = 3,150
r1-surface = Concrete
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
stat2-header =
stat2-data =
footnotes =

Kaohsiung International Airport (zh-t|t=高雄國際機場) Airport codes|KHH|RCKH, also credited as Siaogang International Airport (zh-t|t=小港國際機場) for the Siaogang District where it is located, is a medium-sized commercial airport located in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Kaohsiung International Airport is the second-largest airport in Taiwan in terms of passenger movement and accounts for around 15% of international passenger movements in Taiwan [cite web|url=http://www.immigration.gov.tw/immigration/filesystem/news_doc/area_in.htm|title=Republic of China Immigration Bureau Statistics] .

History

Originally built as a military airport by the Japanese during the Taiwan under Japanese rule era, Kaohsiung Airport retained its military purpose when the ROC government just took control of Taiwan. Due to the need for civil transportation in southern Taiwan, it was demilitarized and converted into a domestic civil airport in 1965, and further upgraded to international airport in 1969, with regular international flights starting in 1972.

During 1970s and 1980s, this airport's international flights were rare, with Hong Kong and Tokyo being the only two destinations. Since early 1990s, the dedicated connection flights to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were inaugurated and this brought southern Taiwan travelers much convenience; they can transit via the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport where there is a higher availability of international flights. Meantime, direct flights to South-east Asia cities were also gradually opened. This reduced the inconvenience that travelers in southern Taiwan needed to travel to the northern Taoyuan then flew south. These contributed to a steady growth in airport passenger/flight movements and a new terminal dedicated to international flights was opened in 1997.

In summer 1998, EVA Air opened a direct flight from Kaohsiung to Los Angeles but it was discontinued only three months later due to low ridership. Northwest Airlines also served this airport, operating from Kansai Airport (1999~2001) and Narita Airport (2002~2003). These two routes were separately suspended due to the low load factor caused by the September 11, 2001 attacks and SARS.

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 High Speed Rail Taoyuan Station). Some carriers dropped the two routes while other carriers reduced flights. Carriers now pin their hopes on the increasing charter flights to Japan and Korea as well as the possibility of direct flights to mainland China as promised by President Ma Ying-jeou.

Terminals

Kaohsiung International Airport has two terminals - domestic and international.

The domestic terminal was built in 1965 when the airport was first opened as a civilian airport. Through the years, it has undergone numerous small expansions and improvements, but jet bridges were never added. For the most part, this is acceptable since the domestic terminal primarily serves smaller planes that do not require the use of 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. Connecting passengers proceed through immigration in Kaohsiung and do not need to repeat the procedure in Taoyuan, avoiding congestions in Taoyuan and saving much time between flights. Like many modern airport terminals, the building has a high ceiling in the check-in area and its exterior uses glass panels extensively. The floor area for the international terminal is three times more than that of the domestic terminal.

Airlines

Domestic

*Daily Air (Cimei, Wang-an)
*Mandarin Airlines (Hualien, Taipei-Songshan)
*TransAsia Airways (Kinmen, Makung)
*Uni Air (Kinmen, Makung)

International

*Air Macau (Macau)
*Cebu Pacific (Manila)
*China Airlines (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Manila, Nagoya-Centrair, Singapore, Taipei-Taoyuan)
*Dragonair (Hong Kong)
*EVA Air (Macau)
*Japan Airlines (Tokyo-Narita)
*Malaysia Airlines (Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur)
*Mandarin Airlines (Cebu, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Laoag, Taipei-Taoyuan)
*SilkAir (Singapore)
*TransAsia Airways (Macau)
*Uni Air Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City)
*Vietnam Airlines (Ho Chi Minh City)

International Charter

China Airlines and Uni Air operate charters from Kaohsiung to many Japanese cities including Asahigawa, Hakodate, Sapporo, Hanamaki, Obihiro, Nagasaki and Kumamoto, mostly during long vacations.

Cargo

*China Airlines Cargo (Hong Kong, Manila, Taipei-Taoyuan)

Terminated

*Cathay Pacific Airways (took over by its subsidiary Dragonair since 1996)
*Far Eastern Air Transport (Hanoi, Jeju City, Laoag, suspended after this carrier's bankruptcy in May 2008)
*Fed Ex (suspended due to unprofitability in 2007)
*Northwest Airlines (Detroit, Osaka-Kansai, Tokyo-Narita) (1999~2003)
*Philippine Airlines (1993~1998)
*Singapore Airlines (suspended due to the low load factor caused by SARS in 2003. Continued by its subsidiary SilkAir since 2007)
*Thai Airways International (suspended Bangkok route and code-shared with China Airlines since 2004)

Ground Transportation

Several city bus lines serve the airport. The airport is also accessible by Kaohsiung MRT. Travelers can also transfer to Taiwan High Speed Rail Zuoying Station via the MRT red line.

ee also

* Transportation in Taiwan

References

External links

* [http://www.kia.gov.tw/english/e_index.asp Kaohsiung International Airport Official website]
* [http://www.kaohsiung-khh.airports-guides.com Guide to Kaohsiung Airport]
*WAD|RCKH