Pingtung Airport

Pingtung Airport (Chinese: 屏東機場; pinyin: Píngdōng Jīchǎng) are two airports in Pingtung City, Pingtung County, Taiwan (IATA: PIF, ICAO: RCSQ). The airport is currently home to the Republic of China Air Force 6th Tactical Mixed Wing,[1] and formerly offered commercial flights.

Pingtung Airport North

屏東航空站
屏東機場

Píngdōng Hángkōngzhàn
Píngdōng Jīchǎng
Summary
Airport typePublic
ServesPingtung, Taiwan
Elevation AMSL24 m / 78 ft
Coordinates22°41′43″N 120°28′40″E
Map
PIF
Location of airport in Taiwan
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
08/26 2,438 8,000 Asphalt
Pingtung Airport South / Pingtung AFB


空軍屏東基地

Kōngjūn Píngdōng Jīdì
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorMinistry of National Defense
ServesPingtung City
Elevation AMSL24 m / 78 ft
Coordinates22°40′20″N 120°27′42″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
9/27 2,383 7,828 Asphalt

History

Pingtung Airport was opened in November 1920 during Japan's rule over Taiwan.[2] Originally, the base was used for "air policing", that is, the use of airplanes to govern indigenous peoples living in hard-to-reach areas. This practice ended in 1927 when the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service 8th Air Squadron was moved from Tachiarai, Fukuoka to Pingtung.[2][3][4] With further expansions and more military personnel moving in, Pingtung Airport served an important role in the Japanese military throughout the Japanese colonial era and the Pacific War.[5]

After Japan's defeat in the Pacific War in 1945, the base came into the control of the Republic of China Air Force.[6]

Commercial flights

Between 1936 to 1942, Japan Air Transport and later Imperial Japanese Airways operated commercial flights to Taihoku Airfield (now Songshan Airport in Taipei).[7]

In November 1993, Pingtung Airport opened for commercial flights again. Since the passenger terminal was not completed, the Pingtung Performing Arts Hall was used as the airport terminal and passengers were shuttled to and from the south airport. In February 1995, a small passenger building was completed at the south airport; in 2005, a larger passenger building was completed at the north airport.[8]

Originally, TransAsia Airways operated flights out of the airport until Uni Air took over in 2007. However, with the completion of Taiwan High Speed Rail in 2007, very little people took the flights anymore, and commercial flights ceased in August 2011.[8]

See also

Notes
  1. "六聯隊沿革". Republic of China Air Force (in Chinese). 15 March 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  2. "(屏東) 飛行第八部隊". Open Museum (in Chinese). Academia Sinica. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  3. Hong 2011, p. 45.
  4. Tseng 2012, p. 74.
  5. Tseng 2012, p. 79, 84-85.
  6. Chen 2011, p. 145.
  7. Chen 2011, p. 144.
  8. 汪淑芬 (26 July 2011). "屏東航站將關閉 8月中停飛" (in Chinese). Yahoo!. CNA. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.