Gimhae International Airport (PUS IATA) is the gateway into South Korea's second city, Busan.
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Because Gimhae sits just across the Nakdong River from Busan’s bustling waterfront, many travellers treat the airport as a convenient launchpad for short hops to the southern coast. The swift KTX line from nearby Gupo Station reaches Busan Station in under 30 minutes, meaning you can land, grab a quick bite of milmyeon at a local stall, and be on a beach at Haeundae before the afternoon tide rolls in. This seamless rail‑airport connection is a subtle advantage over larger Korean hubs, where transfers often add an hour or more.
Gimhae doubles as an active air base, a fact that subtly shapes its operating patterns. During peak military training periods, certain runway slots are reserved, leading to occasional schedule tweaks that can catch the uninitiated traveller off guard. Savvy passengers keep an eye on the airport’s real‑time departure board and factor in a modest buffer when booking connecting flights. The coexistence of civilian and defence traffic also means the airport’s security checks are notably thorough, offering an extra layer of assurance for those wary of rushed procedures.
While the airport provides standard bus links, the most reliable way to navigate the surrounding Gyeongsang‑Namdo region is via the extensive network of private minibus (sijeon) routes. These minibusses, identifiable by their bright green livery, thread through suburban neighbourhoods and connect directly to lesser‑known market towns where fresh seafood and traditional kimchi workshops thrive. For the traveller with a flexible schedule, hopping on a sijeon at the airport’s outer stop can turn a simple transfer into an impromptu cultural detour.
Commercial airport in western Busan, South Korea "Busan Airport" redirects here. For the new airport under construction, see Gadeok Island Airport. For the military use of this facility, see Gimhae Air Base. You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Korean.  (January 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must follow the LLM translation guideline, revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Korean Wikipedia article at [[:ko:김해국제공항]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ko|김해국제공항}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. Gimhae International Airport김해국제공항IATA: PUSICAO: RKPKSummaryAirport typePublic / militaryOwnerMinistry of Land, Infrastructure and TransportOperatorKorea Airports CorporationRepublic of Korea Air ForceServesBusan–Gyeongnam Area and Gyeongsang ProvinceLocationGangseo District, Busan, South KoreaOpened1 August 1976; 49 years ago (1976-08-01)Hub forAir BusanEastar JetJeju AirJin AirKorean AirElevation AMSL6 ft / 2 mCoordinates35°10′46″N 128°56′18″E / 35.17944°N 128.93833°E / 35.17944; 128.93833Websitewww.airport.co.kr/gimhaeeng/MapPUS/RKPKLocation of airport in BusanShow map of BusanPUS/RKPKLocation of airport in South KoreaShow map of South KoreaRunways Direction Length Surface m ft 18L/36R 2,743 9,007 Concrete 18R/36L 3,200 10,499 Concrete Statistics (2024)Aircraft movements94,870International passengers9,005,803Domestic passengers6,746,655Total passengers15,752,458Sources: World Aero DataKorea Airports Corporation Gimhae International AirportHangul김해국제공항Hanja金海國際空港RRGimhae gukjegonghangMRKimhae kukchegonghang Gimhae International Airport (IATA: PUS, ICAO: RKPK) also known as Busan Airport is located on the western end of Busan, the second-largest city in South Korea. Opened in 1976, the airport is named after the nearby city of Gimhae. A new international terminal opened on 31 October 2007. Gimhae International Airport is the main hub for Air Busan and Korean Air, and an operating base for Jeju Air and Jin Air. Runway 18L/36R is used for military purposes only for Gimhae Air Base, but due to increasing traffic, there are plans to open the runway for airliners.[citation needed] In 2018, 17,064,613 passengers used the airport. As the airport is now beyond its design capacity and surrounded by mountains, buildings and other objectives, a new airport is currently being built on Gadeokdo to meet growing demand. Because the airport is shared with military facilities, photography and video of the apron, runway, and military stations are prohibited according to the airport website.
[edit] In August 1976, Gimhae Airport opened, and commercial air traffic shifted there from the old airport. A new domestic terminal was completed in May 1983. Korean Air launched a route to Honolulu in October 1992. In April 2002, Northwest Airlines began service to its hub at Tokyo's Narita Airport, where people could board connecting flights to the United States. In March 2007, Lufthansa inaugurated service to Munich via Seoul. This was the first route between Busan and Europe. President Roh Moo-hyun opened a new international terminal seven months later. Delta Air Lines, which had merged with Northwest, ended the Tokyo link in May 2012. Lufthansa terminated its flight to Busan in March 2014.
[edit] Passenger[edit] This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (April 2026) AirlinesDestinations AirAsia X Kuala Lumpur–International (resumes 17 June 2026) Air Busan Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Cebu, Denpasar, Guam, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Kota Kinabalu, Macau, Matsuyama, Nha Trang, Osaka–Kansai, Qingdao, Sanya, Shizuoka, Sapporo–Chitose, Tagbilaran, Takamatsu, Tokyo–Narita, Ulaanbaatar, Vientiane, Xi'an, Yanji, Zhangjiajie Air China Beijing–Capital China Airlines Taipei–Taoyuan China Eastern Airlines Shanghai–Pudong[citation needed] China Southern Airlines Shenyang Eastar Jet Almaty, Chiang Mai, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Naha, Osaka–Kansai, Phu Quoc Sapporo–Chitose, Seoul–Gimpo, Taipei–Taoyuan EVA Air Taipei–Taoyuan HK Express Hong Kong Jeju Air Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Cebu, Fukuoka, Osaka–Kansai, Kaohsiung, Phu Quoc, Sapporo–Chitose, Shijiazhuang, Singapore, Tagbilaran, Taipei–Taoyuan, Ulaanbaatar, Zhangjiajie Jin Air Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Cebu, Clark, Da Nang,[citation needed] Fukuoka, Miyakojima, Nagoya–Centrair, Nha Trang, Osaka–Kansai, Naha,[citation needed] Phu Quoc, Sapporo–Chitose, Taichung, Taipei–Taoyuan, Tokyo–Narita, Ulaanbaatar Korean Air Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Beijing–Capital, Guam, Jeju, Nagoya–Centrair, Qingdao, Seoul–Gimpo, Seoul–Incheon,1 Shanghai–Pudong, Taipei–Taoyuan, Tokyo–Narita Seasonal: Da Nang MIAT Mongolian Airlines Ulaanbaatar Philippine Airlines Manila Shanghai Airlines Shanghai–Pudong Singapore Airlines Singapore Spring Airlines Shanghai–Pudong Starlux Airlines Taichung (begins 2 June 2026), Taipei–Taoyuan T'way Air Da Nang, Fukuoka, Nha Trang, Osaka–Kansai, Sapporo–Chitose, Tokyo–Narita Tigerair Taiwan Taipei–Taoyuan VietJet Air Da Nang, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc[citation needed] Vietnam Airlines Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang[citation needed]
[edit] Terminal interior Terminal interior Terminal exterior Passengers[edit] Air traffic statistics Aircraft operations Passenger volume Cargo tonnage 2001 61,242 9,168,089 203,335 2002 60,090 9,173,288 204,464 2003 58,600 8,782,835 185,372 2004 52,212 7,674,153 175,850 2005 50,735 7,045,806 152,407 2006 52,935 7,071,037 135,607 2007 58,119 7,403,262 126,947 2008 59,575 7,202,117 113,710 2009 61,171 6,870,157 105,320 2010 62,225 8,160,546 119,390 2011 66,525 8,749,153 126,710 2012 71,713 9,196,090 121,256 2013 77,665 9,671,381 116,185 2014 78,646 10,378,867 123,242 2015 87,709 12,382,150 146,694 2016 99,358 14,900,815 185,472 2017 107,363 16,403,541 186,471 2018 110,924 17,064,613 183,507 2019 111,276 16,931,023 171,953 2020 53,150 7,235,652 48,250 2021 57,694 8,859,304 36,010 2022 61,733 10,027,097 55,555 Source: Korea Airports Corporation Traffic Statistics
[edit] The airport is accesible by the Gimhae International Airport station of the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit.