Gimpo Airport was the main international airport for Seoul, and therefore for South Korea, until 2001, when Incheon International Airport took over. Its IATA airport code was SEL until 2001, when it was changed to GMP. Its ICAO airport code remains RKSS. Two airlines--Korean Air and Asiana Airlines--provide frequent domestic service to Gimpo Airport.

History

The airport originally started out as a runway built by US forces in 1951 during the Korean War and has since grown into a much more significant airport that is capable of handling 226,000 flights a year. The airport had 1 domestic and 2 international terminals before its international function was replaced by Incheon. Gimpo currently has two runways, 3,600m × 45m and 3,200m × 60m.

Gimpo 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. For 500 Won (roughly 50 cents US at the time), one could take the subway from Gimpo Airport all the way into downtown Seoul. The airport is still served by the subway, as well as by buses to Seoul and to Incheon International Airport.

Timeline

In 1983, a Korean Air flight that was supposed to land here, Korean Air Flight 7, which was flying from JFK International Airport in New York City, New York to Kimpo via Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska ran into Soviet air space and was shot down. All passengers died.

In 1987, Korean Air Flight 858, which was flying from Abu Dhabi International Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, to Kimpo was blown up midair by a bomb planted by North Korean agents. Everyone on board died after the plane exploded over the Andaman Sea.

If Project Bojinka had not been discovered after a fire in Manila, Philippines, one or more aircraft owned by a U.S. carrier/s flying to this airport would have blown up over the Pacific Ocean on January 21, 1995 as part of the project's first phase.

In 1997, a Korean Air Boeing 747 that had taken off from this airport, crashed before landing at General Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, killing all but 26 of its passengers.

On November 29, 2003, scheduled services between Gimpo and Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan started, providing the only international link for both city airports.

On June 17, 2004, Gimpo Airport held terrorism response exercises.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics

External link

• Gimpo Airport (http://gimpo.airport.co.kr/)