New Cheongju International Airport

The following is a tip on traditional Korean language and customs in response to a query from Scott McDowell, who wrote to us from Daejeon:

Q. Mr. McDowell:
Cheongju International Airport opened only a few years ago. It’s a beautiful, up-to-date facility with an advantageous location serving central Koreans. Yet I am at a loss to figure out why I can’t fly from this airport to Gimhae, Gimpo or Incheon International Airport. Cheongju International Airport offers a few weekly flights to and from China and only a little more than a handful back and forth from Jeju Island. Most of the time, this airport remains idle. It seems a huge waste of human and material resources.

Why is it being underused?

A. IHT-JAD:
Since its opening in 1997, Cheongju International Airport has catered to travelers, both domestic and international, in Korea’s central region, Chungcheong and Gangwon provinces.

According to the Korea Airport Corporation’s Cheongju International Airport Operation Team, the capacity of the airport is limited to handling only five planes simultaneously, making it small in size. While the terminal and five aprons belong to civilian operations, the runways are shared with the nearby air base. The airport spokesperson said the number of flights, determined by travel demands in the region, is on the rise.