Gimpo International Airport

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Gimpo International Airport
김포국제공항
金浦國際空港

Gimpo Gukje Gonghang
Kimp'o Kukche Konghang

IATA: GMP – ICAO: RKSS
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Korea Airports Corporation
Location Seoul National Capital Area
Elevation AMSL 58 ft / 18 m
Coordinates 37°33′29″N 126°47′26″E / 37.55806, 126.79056
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
14R/32L 10,499 3,200 Asphalt
14L/32R 11,811 3,600 Concrete
Statistics (2007)
Aircraft movements 100,124
Passengers 13,811,004
Tonnes of cargo 248,736
Statistics from KAC[1]

Gimpo International Airport (Korean: 김포국제공항), commonly known as Gimpo Airport (IATA: GMPICAO: RKSS) (formerly Kimpo International Airport), is located in the far western end of Seoul and was the main international airport for Seoul and South Korea before it was replaced by Incheon International Airport in 2001. It is now the second largest airport in Korea.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Gimpo International Airport primarily serves domestic and some limited international flights.

[edit] Domestic passenger flights

Flights to Daegu were moved to Incheon Airport.

[edit] International "city-to-city" flights

[edit] History

International Terminal, Gimpo Airport - Departure
International Terminal, Gimpo Airport - Departure

The airport originally started out as a runway built by Japanese forces in 1939-1942. It played a major role during the Korean War and in 1958 was designated as the international airport of the Korean capital city.

Since then it has grown into a much more significant airport that is capable of handling 226,000 flights a year. The airport had one domestic and two international terminals before its international function was replaced by Incheon International Airport. Gimpo currently has two runways (3600 m×45 m & 3200 m×60 m), two passenger terminals, and one cargo terminal.

The airport is located south of the Han River in western Seoul. (The name "Gimpo" comes from the nearby city of Gimpo, of which the airport used to be a part.)

For many years, the airport was served by the Gimpo Line, a railway line that no longer exists. In the 1990s, Seoul Subway Line 5 was extended to Gimpo. On March 23, 2007, the AREX airport express line started operations to Incheon International Airport, with the rest of the link to Seoul Station scheduled to open in 2010. Future plans include Seoul Subway Line 9 to Banpo.

Airlines that used to serve Gimpo but no longer serve Seoul are:

On November 29, 2003, scheduled services between Gimpo and Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) in Tokyo, Japan began. Services to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport started on October 28, 2007.

[edit] Disasters involving Gimpo

International Terminal, Gimpo Airport - Departure
International Terminal, Gimpo Airport - Departure
  • In 1978, Soviet missiles struck Korean Air Lines Flight 902, killing two passengers. The plane, bound for Gimpo from Paris, landed with no further deaths.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Korean airport statistics