Pohang Airport

Pohang Airport
포항공항
浦項空港

Pohang Gonghang
P'ohang Konghang

IATA: KPOICAO: RKTH

KPO
Location of airport in South Korea

Summary
Airport type Military
Operator Korean Airports Corporation, Republic of Korea Navy
Serves Pohang
Location Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
Elevation AMSL 21 m / 70 ft
Coordinates 35°59′16″N 129°25′13″E / 35.98778°N 129.42028°E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
10/28 2,134 7,000 Concrete
Statistics (2011)
Passengers 255,227
Source:airport-information.com[1]

Pohang Airport is an airport in Pohang, South Korea (IATA: KPO, ICAO: RKTH). In 2011, 255,227 passengers used the airport.[1]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
Asiana AirlinesJeju, Seoul-Gimpo (all suspended July 2014 ~ December 2015)[2]
Korean Air Seoul-Gimpo (suspended July 2014 ~ December 2015)[3]

History

Pohang Airfield was originally developed during the Japanese Imperial period.

Korean war

F9F-2s of VMF-311 at Pohang in 1951

In early July 1950 Pohang airfield was identified as a potential base for USAF operations. On 7 July, Brigadier-General Timberlake deputy-commander of the Fifth Air Force ordered the development of the base. Company A 802nd Engineer Aviation Battalion landed at Pohang and began improving the airfield on 12 July by added a 500 feet (150 m) PSP extension and building hardstands for 27 F-51 Mustangs.[4] The airfield was designated by the USAF as K-3.

Troops of the Korean People's Army (KPA) 12th Division infiltrated the Pohang area in early August and made guerilla attacks against the airfield. By 12 August KPA troops entered Pohang and so on 13 August the 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group evacuated to Tsuiki Air Field in Japan. ROK and U.S. forces routed the KPA several days later, but the continued presence of guerilla units mitigated against an early return to the base.[5]

USAF units based there from July–August 1950 included:

The 802nd Battalion returned to Pohang on 27 September finding the airfield relatively undamaged. The 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group returned to Pohang on 3 October. On 12 October No. 77 Squadron RAAF operating F-51s arrived at Pohang.[8]

In July, 1953 the United States Navy deployed two AJ (A-2) Savage aircraft to K-3 as a nuclear deterrent in the final days of the Korean War.[9]

Ground transportation

Bus

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "South Korea Traffic Statistics". airport-information.com.
  2. http://www.sisafocus.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=99926
  3. http://www.sisafocus.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=99926
  4. Futrell, Frank (1983). The United States Air Force in Korea, 1950-1953. Air Force History & Museums Program. p. 95. ISBN 9780912799711.
  5. Futrell, p.124
  6. 6.0 6.1 Futrell, p.112
  7. 7.0 7.1 Futrell, p.95
  8. Futrell, p.178
  9. Miller, Jerry. Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers: How the Bomb Saved Naval Aviation. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001. ISBN 1-56098-944-0.