Yeouido Airport

여의도비행장
Summary
Airport typeDefunct
OperatorImperial Japanese Army Air Service (1916~1929?)
Japanese Governor-General of Korea Department of Posts and Telecommunications (1929?~1945?)
U.S. Fifth Air Force (1945?~1958)
Republic of Korea Air Force (1958~1971)
ServesSeoul
LocationYeongdeungpo District, Seoul, South Korea
Opened1916 (1916)
Closed1971 (1971)
Passenger services ceased1958 (1958)
Coordinates37°31′33″N 126°55′19″E / 37.52583°N 126.92194°E / 37.52583; 126.92194
Maps

Location in modern Seoul
Yeouido Airport is located in South Korea
Yeouido Airport
Yeouido Airport
Location in modern South Korea
Yeouido Airport is located in Asia
Yeouido Airport
Yeouido Airport
Yeouido Airport (Asia)
Yeouido Airport is located in Earth
Yeouido Airport
Yeouido Airport
Yeouido Airport (Earth)
Demolished in 1971, the site is now part of Yeouido Park, KBS headquarters and MBC headquarters.
Yeouido Airport
Hangul
여의도비행장
Hanja
汝矣島飛行場
Revised RomanizationYeouido Bihaengjang
McCune–ReischauerYŏŭido Pihaengjang

Yeouido Airport (Korean: 여의도비행장) was an international airport in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea. It operated as an international airport from 1929 to 1958, and thereafter as a military base until 1971.

History

The Imperial Japanese Army constructed an airstrip on Yeouido in 1916. At the time, the island was predominantly farmland[1] but was also used as an Imperial Army training base.[2]

Japanese authorities significantly upgraded the facility in 1929, along with a number of other airfields in Korea, to serve as stops for air service to Manchuria.[1] Japan Air Transport (later as Imperial Japanese Airways) provided scheduled flights to Tokyo (beginning 1929), Fukuoka, Mukden, Dalian, Xinjing and other destinations from the airport during the 1930s.[3][4] The much larger Kimpo Airfield opened to Japanese military traffic in 1943, and Yeouido was thereafter officially known as Keijo No. 2 Airfield (京城第2飛行場).[5]

After World War II, the airfield became a base of operations for Korean National Airlines (KNA/Koreanair), which operated international flights to Hong Kong and domestic flights to Pusan, Kangnung, Kwangju and Cheju.[6] Northwest Orient Airlines operated Seoul-Tokyo flights in the 1950s, providing onward connections to North America.[7]

The airport was prone to flooding that made it unusable during the summer rainy season. Gimpo International Airport took over Yeouido's commercial flights in 1958, and Seoul Air Base took over its military functions in 1971.[1]

Former airlines and destinations (before 1958)

AirlinesDestinations
Imperial Japanese Airways Xinjing (Manchukuo), Mukden, Tokyo
Korean National Airlines Cheju, Hong Kong, Kangnung, Kwangju, Pusan
Charter: Manila
Northwest Orient Airlines Tokyo

Imperial Japanese Airways operated until 1945 when operations ceased by US occupation. KNA operated from 1948 onwards. Northwest began service in 1947 when civil flights resumed in Japan.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Korea's First Airport Was on Yeouido". koreatimes. 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  2. ↑ "朝鮮半島の旧陸海軍航空基地". navgunschl2.sakura.ne.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  3. ↑ "Dai Nippon Koku - Greater Japan Airlines - Imperial Japanese Airways". www.timetableimages.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  4. ↑ "Dai Nippon Koku - Greater Japan Airlines - Imperial Japanese Airways". www.timetableimages.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  5. ↑ "朝鮮・京城第2(汝矣島、京城)飛行場跡地: 空港探索・3". 空港探索・3. Archived from the original on 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  6. ↑ "Korean National Airlines - KNA - Koreanair". www.timetableimages.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  7. ↑ "Northwest timetable, 1955".


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