Samjiyŏn Airport is an airport in Samjiyon City, Ryanggang Province, North Korea.

Overview

The airport is located near

Baekdu Mountain Paektu Mountain or Baekdu Mountain () is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. In China, it is known as Changbai Mountain (). At , it is the tallest mountain in North Korea and Northeast China and the tallest mountai ...

. Tour groups fly to the airport for scheduled journeys to this significant landmark and to see the birthplace of

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was ...

. All tours to the area will include a trip here. There is a high presence of military equipment at this airport, there are large numbers of older Soviet jets such as

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate s ...

's lined up in sidings next to the runway and many utility vehicles/jeeps. Whether or not these are operational is unknown, but highly unlikely given their apparent condition. The airport was built in the 1980s to accommodate a ski center planned by a South Korean company. The venture failed, and Samjiyŏn airport now sits in a deserted location. The only flights to this airport are from

Pyongyang Sunan International Airport Pyongyang International Airport () , also known as Pyongyang Sunan International Airport (), is the sole international airport serving Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea and located in the city's Sunan District. History Early years During ...

and served by the country's only airline:

Air Koryo Air Koryo () is North Korea's flag carrier and only commercial airline. It is state-owned and controlled by the North Korean air force. Headquartered in Sunan-guyŏk, Pyongyang, it operates domestic and international routeson a regular schedul ...

Facilities

The airfield has a single asphalt runway 07/25, measuring 10750 x 197 feet (3277 x 60 m). Landings database page
"Landings.Com", accessed 4 August 2010.
"Air Bases - Samjiyon", accessed 4 August 2010. It has a full-length parallel taxiway. Entrances to underground bunkers are clearly visible in satellite photography of the base.

Airlines and destinations

References

External links

360° panorama of Samjiyon Airport

Selection of photographs in and around Samjiyon Airport
Airports in North Korea Buildings and structures in Ryanggang Province 1980s establishments in North Korea {{NorthKorea-airport-stub