Kaohsiung International Airport
Kaohsiung International Airport is a medium-sized civil airport in Siaogang District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, also known as Siaogang Airport. With nearly seven million passengers in 2018, it is the second busiest airport in Taiwan, after Taoyuan. The airport has a single east–west runway and two terminals: one international and one domestic. It is owned and operated by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.
History
Originally built as an Imperial Japanese Army Air Squadron base in 1942 during the Japanese rule era of Taiwan, 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.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.
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 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.
Since December 2008, Kaohsiung Airport has added direct flights to Hangzhou, 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 mainland China, as well as the rise of low cost carriers.
Terminals
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 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
Commercial
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.Military charter
Statistics
| Rank | Airport | Passengers | % Change 2019/18 | Carriers |
| 1 |  Hong Kong | 1,339,144 | 1.6% | China Airlines, Cathay Dragon |
| 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.
- 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.
- 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 at, providing access to Taiwan Railways at and Taiwan High Speed Rail at. Both terminals are connected.
- Coach: A one-way coach fare from Kaohsiung International Airport to Fangliao and Kenting is available.
- 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 can be found at the airport, one is at left side of International Terminal, another one is at the left side of Domestic Terminal.
Footnotes