Gimpo Airport - The Hub of Korea

If you ever visit South Korea, it is very likely you will arrive and depart from the Incheon International Airport. Incheon is the modern and busy air hub of the capital city of Seoul and the country, though if you want to travel domestically by plane, you'll probably have to transfer to the city's other, older air hub – Gimpo. Similar to other major cities in Asia, Incheon and Gimpo make up the dual airport system of Seoul. While Incheon is the main international gateway to Seoul and South Korea, Gimpo is more of the main air hub of South Korea with its domestic network. It also has a long history connected to the development of aviation in the Korean peninsula. 

Divided and Shaped By War

While the domestic hub, Gimpo Airport is one of the two main airports serving the capital city of Seoul though it was not the city's first airport. Seoul's first airport was located 11 kilometers east along the Han River in the Yeongdeungpo District. Today, Yeongdeungpo is where a public park and South Korea's National Assembly is located. Though in the past it was home to the Korean peninsula's first airfield – Yeouido. Built in 1916, it was the home of Korea's early aviation development and where the first flights over Korean skies took off from. Operating primarily as a military facility, it would eventually host civilian flights to Japan and Manchuria.

In 1929, Yeouido was one of several airfields in Korea that underwent upgrades. With its small size, the government under Imperial Japan wanted a bigger facility in the area. The location selected for the new Seoul-area airfield was further west along the Han River near the district of Gimpo. Built by Korean laborers, rocks were carried from other areas to build the base of the runway. With four runways, the airfield that would become today's Gimpo International Airport was first called the Keijo New Airfield when it opened in 1939. Eventually the airfield was fully completed in 1942.

Within a few years, the newly opened Keijo New Airfield would immediately be put to use during World War II serving Japanese military aircraft. Despite being a military base, Keijo was never attacked during the Pacific War. Following the war, civil aviation operations would resume at Yeouido while Keijo continued to serve as a military base administered by the United States military until it was turned over the Republic of Korea (ROK) in 1949.

During the post-war period in the mid-late 1940s, Yeouido would see airlines such as Northwest Orient – the predecessor to US-based Northwest and Delta - operate flights to Tokyo and domestic services to Busan. Korea's first airline – Korea National Airlines (KNA) was launched and operated its first flight from Yeouido to Busan Gimhae Airport on October 30, 1948.  

However, the peace on the Korean peninsula would be interrupted as the Korean War broke out between the ROK (South Korea) and the subsequently formed Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) in 1950. During the war, control of airfield would shift in the now divided Korea. In June 1950, the North Korean forces captured Seoul and Keijo Airfield. In response, the South Korean forces – backed by the United Nations (UN) and United States military retook the airfield months later in September. North Korea would again retake the airfield in 1951 before the South Korean forces and its backers retook the airfield for the second and final time during the war. The US Air Force renamed Keijo as “Kimpo Air Base” and refer it to as “K-14,” and administered Kimpo until 1958.

Post-Korean War Growth

Following the peace between North and South Korea, Kimpo would continue to serve as a military base for the US and South Korea. Yeuoido would also continue to serve as the main civilian airport. However, Yeouido was known as a flood prone area and the city and the South Korean government wanted to replace it. In 1958, South Korean President Syngman Rhee issued a Presidential Decree to designate Kimpo   as the new civil airport – Gimpo International Airport – for Seoul. All military activity at Gimpo would be relocated to Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, though Yeouido would continue to remain open until it was officially closed in 1971.

Ahead of the presidential decree, Gimpo underwent upgrades to get the airport ready for international flights which were completed in 1957. As part of the decree, South Korea's national airline KNA would shift its operations to Gimpo. However, due to financial difficulties it wouldn't be long until it was acquired by the South Korean government and renamed as Korean Air Lines – now the modern day Korean Air - in 1962.

The new Korean Air Lines would lead the post-war growth of Gimpo Airport as the airport facility saw a series of upgrades including the construction of passenger/cargo terminal buildings, runways, taxiways, and park lots. Modern navigation equipment was also installed. In 1971 the current domestic terminal (Terminal 1) opened initially serving both domestic and international flights. International flights would then be shifted to Terminal 2 which opened ahead of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.  

By 1984, Korean Air Lines would be renamed Korean Air and it would welcome a new challenge from a second Korean carrier – Asiana Airlines – which launched in 1988. From Gimpo, Asiana would launch its first flight on December 1988 to Busan. Two years later, Asiana would launch its first international flights from Gimpo to Tokyo in 1990.

Amid the growth of Gimpo, the South Korean government recognized the limitations of the primary air hub of Seoul. Like many older Asian airports built in urban areas, Gimpo lacked room for expansion. Plans and later work would begin to build a new, bigger airport combing two islands further west of Seoul and Gimpo off the coast of the city of Incheon – Incheon International Airport. Opened in 2001, Incheon International Airport would become the main international gateway to Seoul and South Korea. Gimpo would be part of the dual-hub system of Seoul with domestic flights remaining while also serving international charter flights. 

Image: Overview of Gimpo Airport Domestic Terminal (Terminal 1) from the National Aviation Museum of Korea

Gimpo's Evolving Role in Seoul's Dual Airport System 

If you ever get a chance to travel to/from both Incheon and Gimpo, you will see clear differences in the experiences at the two Seoul-area hubs. The busy Incheon Airport features a modern, spacious design that represents South Korea in the 21^st century. It is a contrast to Gimpo which may feel dated though unlike Incheon though you will reminders of the country's aviation history. Incheon Airport is operated separately by Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC), while Gimpo is part of the portfolio of Korea Airports Corporation (KAC). Both serve their purposes under the dual airport system of Seoul. 

Image: Overhead satellite view of Gimpo Airport (Google Earth)

Since the opening of Terminal 2, not much has changed at Gimpo as it has maintained its two-runway facility since the late 1980s. Gimpo is the third busiest airport in the country serving around 23 million passengers in 2024, trailing Jeju (29.6 million) and Incheon (71.15 million). It is the home of the domestic operations of Korean Air and Asiana – the two biggest airlines of South Korea whose merger was recently completed. In addition, South Korean budget airlines such as Jeju Air, Jin Air, Easter Jet, and T'way also operate most of their domestic flights at Gimpo.

South Korea is well connected with high speed rail transport throughout the country, so the domestic air network is small. From Gimpo, domestic flights are operated to just seven destinations including other major points such as Busan and Jeju. Of the routes from Gimpo, the Gimpo-Jeju route is the world's busiest domestic air route (domestic airline capacity) in 2024 based on data from aviation data company OAG. According to Flightradar24, the Gimpo-Jeju route is served by around 613 weekly flights (June 2025) followed by the Gimpo-Busan route (128) and Busan-Tokyo Haneda (84). 

While primarily serving as Seoul and South Korea's domestic hub, Gimpo also serves limited international flights to major airports in Northeast Asia catering to business travelers. Flights are operated from Gimpo to three destinations in Japan (Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya, and Osaka Kansai), two in Taiwan (Taipei Songshan and Kaoshiung), and three in China (Beijing Daxing/Capital, and Shanghai Hongquiao).

Airport operator KAC is envisioning a future of Gimpo Airport beyond just conventional commercial aircraft. It is leading the effort to develop Gimpo Airport to become a hub for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles. KAC plans to lead an investment worth around KRW 2.964 trillion (~USD $2.18 billion) with the help from national and city governments, and other private companies to build landing pads and intermodal transfer facilities which includes Super-Bus Rapid Transit (S-BRT) and urban transit by the year 2030.

Image: Scale model of UAM landing facility planned for Gimpo Airport

Gimpo has come a long way from serving as a military base that was fought over as the Korean peninsula split between the North and South. Despite the setbacks brought upon by war, South Korea became an economic power and Gimpo would eventually serve as its primary air hub for just over four decades. While Incheon Airport has replaced Gimpo as the main international gateway to Seoul and South Korea, Gimpo Airport continues to operate as the main domestic air hub of the country. With reminders of the past, the airport has been an important part of the aviation tradition for the Korean peninsula. As its role evolves, Gimpo will continue to carry a tradition as the hub of Korea. 

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