Kaohsiung International Airport (高雄國際機場) (IATA: KHH, ICAO: RCKH) is a medium-sized international airport in Siaogang District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, also known as Siaogang Airport (小港機場). With 4.2 million passengers in 2023, it was the third busiest airport in Taiwan, after Taoyuan and Songshan. The airport has a single east–west runway and two terminals: one international and one domestic.

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 after six months. 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, causing the eventual cessation of flights between cities on Taiwan's western plains. The last domestic flight between Taipei Songshan and Kaohsiung landed 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 2009, the number of passengers has been recovering due to the opening of regular scheduled cross-strait flights to China, as well as the rise of low cost carriers.

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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 domestic terminal primarily serves smaller planes that do not require jet bridges.) 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 larger than the domestic one.

Airlines	Destinations
Aero K	Seoul–Incheon (begins 2 January 2025)
AirAsia	Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur–International
Air Busan	Busan
Air Macau	Macau
Bamboo Airways	Charter: Phu Quoc
Batik Air Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur–International, Nagoya–Centrair
Cathay Pacific	Hong Kong
Cebu Pacific	Manila
China Airlines	Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Hong Kong, Kumamoto (resumes 3 February 2025), Manila, Naha, Osaka–Kansai, Seoul–Gimpo, Seoul–Incheon, Shanghai–Pudong, Shenzhen, Singapore, Tokyo–Narita Charter: Takamatsu
China Eastern Airlines	Nanjing
Daily Air	Qimei, Wang-an
EVA Air	Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Macau, Osaka–Kansai, Seoul–Incheon, Shanghai–Pudong, Tokyo–Narita
HK Express	Hong Kong
Jeju Air	Busan, Seoul–Gimpo (ends 30 December 2024)
Juneyao Air	Shanghai–Pudong
Mandarin Airlines	Hualien, Kinmen, Matsu–Nangan (ends 2 January 2025), Penghu
Peach	Osaka–Kansai, Tokyo–Narita
Philippines AirAsia	Manila
Spring Airlines	Shanghai–Pudong
Thai AirAsia	Bangkok–Don Mueang, Tokyo–Narita
Thai Airways International	Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi
Thai Lion Air	Bangkok–Don Mueang, Naha (both begin 21 January 2025)
Tigerair Taiwan	Da Nang, Fukuoka, Macau, Nagoya–Centrair, Naha, Okayama, Osaka–Kansai, Sapporo–Chitose (begins 21 January 2025), Seoul–Gimpo, Tokyo–Narita Charter: Phu Quoc
T'way Air	Seoul–Gimpo, Seoul–Incheon
Uni Air	Kinmen, Penghu
United Airlines	Tokyo–Narita (begins 11 July 2025)
VietJet Air	Da Nang, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phu Quoc
Vietnam Airlines	Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City
XiamenAir	Fuzhou, Xiamen

Operations and statistics
Year	Passenger movements	Airfreight movements (tons)	Aircraft movement
2014	5,397,021	68,767.3	51,681
2015	6,001,487	63,030.8	55,685
2016	6,416,681	71,447.8	57,446
2017	6,479,183	81,555.3	51,768
2018	6,973,845	73,541.6	60,155
2019	7,506,753	64,676.8	64,015
2020	1,891,762	46,506.3	26,475
2021	836,594	57,087.3	16,317
2022	1,238,674	46,312.5	20,666
2023	4,225,403	40,018.4	40,516

Busiest international routes from Kaohsiung (2023)

Rank	Airport	Passengers	Carriers
1	Hong Kong	674,849	Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, HK Express
2	Osaka–Kansai	336,865	China Airlines, EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Peach, Scoot
3	Tokyo–Narita	322,793	China Airlines, EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Japan Airlines, Peach
4	Seoul–Incheon	234,470	China Airlines, EVA Air, Jeju Air, T'way Air
5	Ho Chi Minh City	196,369	Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Air
6	Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi	174,942	China Airlines, Thai Airways International
7	Hanoi	172,503	VietJet Air
8	Macau	122,573	EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Air Macau
9	Shanghai–Pudong	113,492	China Airlines, EVA Air, Juneyao Air, Spring Airlines
10	Da Nang	87,127	Bamboo Airways, Tigerair Taiwan

Domestic routes from Kaohsiung (2023)

Rank	Airport	Passengers	Carriers
1	Penghu	848,972
2	Kinmen	407,277
3	Hualien	19,377
4	Qimei	16,318
5	Wang-an	1,718

• 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. Five people on the ground were injured and the crash caused a fire involving two homes.

• Rail: The airport is served by Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Red line at Kaohsiung International Airport, providing access to Taiwan Railway at Kaohsiung Main Station and Taiwan High Speed Rail at Zuoying.
• Coach: There is a one-way coach from Kaohsiung International Airport to Fangliao and Kenting.
• 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 the right side of the International Terminal. There are also two queuing taxi stops at the airport, one at the left side of the International Terminal, and one at the left side of the Domestic Terminal.

• Civil Aeronautics Administration (Taiwan)
• Transportation in Taiwan
• List of airports in Taiwan

Media related to Kaohsiung International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Kaohsiung International Airport official website
• Guide to Kaohsiung Airport
• Office of “E-VAT Refund”