Yangyang International Airport is a minor

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

in northeastern

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. It is located in

Yangyang County Yangyang County () is in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The county is located in the northeast of the country in Gangwon-do. Its population is about 31,000 (2004). The Yangyang area is well known for its pine mushrooms (''song-i''), its fish ...

, Gangwon Province and was built to serve the nearby areas of

Gangneung Gangneung (; ) is a list of cities in South Korea, municipal city in Gangwon, South Korea, Gangwon province, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved Ja ...

Sokcho Sokcho (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city and major tourist hub located in the northeast of Gangwon Province, South Korea. History From around the 3rd century to the early 5th century AD, Sokcho was part of Eastern Ye, Do ...

, and

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seo ...

. The airport replaced

and

airports.

History

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 ...

operated charters from Sondok Airport to Yangyang Airport during 2002–2006 for few months per year. Flights were halted indefinitely after relations soured between the two Koreas. Yangyang International Airport handled its last flight on 1 November 2008, according to th
Korea Airport Corporation
and there were calls for it to be sold off or closed. It reopened on 16 July 2010 when East Asia AirLine started flying to

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

. On 4 August 2011, Taiwan's

TransAsia Airways TransAsia Airways (TNA, until January 1992 known by its Chinese-translated name Foshing Airlines;For historical pictures with "Foshing Airlines" on it, see: ) was a Taiwanese airline based in Neihu District in Taipei. Though the company starte ...

began flying to Yangyang International Airport (five times a week).

stated that it will be a regular chartered service. However, on 18 February 2017, TransAsia Airways went into liquidation. In 2011, 5,748 passengers used the airport. With

being voted as the host city for the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

, an increase in passengers was expected at Yangyang International Airport.

Korean Air Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. (KAL; ) is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations, and international flights. It is owned by the Hanjin, Hanjin Group. The present-day Korean Air tra ...

scheduled additional charter flights from Yangyang to Europe and North America, including New York–JFK, Minneapolis–St. Paul, London–Gatwick, and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. This included a visa-free grace for the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

so long as citizens land in Yangyang.

VietJet Air Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company (), operating as VietJet Air or Vietjet, is a Vietnamese low-cost airline based in Hanoi. It was the first privately owned airline to be established in Vietnam, being granted its initial approval to operate ...

is the only airline carrier that operates flights from South East Asia to Yangyang (charter flights from Hanoi to Yangyang). As of 2025, the airport does not have a control radar.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Ground transportation

Bus

* Shuttle Bus: Yangyang Bus Terminal ↔ Yangyang International Airport

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Gangwon Province, South Korea Airports in South Korea Yangyang County Airports established in 2002 2002 establishments in South Korea