Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH) Airport Guide - HonestAirport

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Most important tips

Know before you go

A compact traveler cheat sheet for timing, terminals, food, and disruption checks.

Timing

International vs Domestic is the whole game — and they are not sterile

Trust the boarding-pass terminal; no sterile domestic↔intl walk; MRT Exit 2 vs Exit 6 matters.

International = the larger 3F/1F hall; Domestic = the smaller island hall through the covered walk / observation deck. Same-day domestic↔international movers re-clear landside and CIQ unless the airline has already issued the onward boarding pass and tagged bags through. Separate tickets need a wide buffer. Decide the first land stop before you land: Formosa Boulevard / Central Park hotel spine ≠ Zuoying HSR ≠ Kenting coach ≠ city ferry — typing only “Kaohsiung” into a rideshare wastes curb time.

Terminal

Compact campus — watch FIDS after food or a lounge stop

Small enough to walk; still large enough for gate changes.

Gates sit on East (21–26) and West (27–32) wings of the International 3F airside. The walk to Gate 26 (homee) or the VIP lounge cluster is short, but banks still move — recheck FIDS and the airline app after duty-free or a meal. Domestic is thinner on food and seating; if you have lounge or homee access, use it on the international side before any landside hop.

Food

Eat landside or FamilyMart before security when the schedule allows

Landside convenience retail first; homee is the airside meal.

International landside has 7-Eleven / FamilyMart / Starbucks / Chou’s Shrimp Rolls value that usually beats deep airside markup. Airside homee KITCHEN is the denser sit-down after immigration (and the only live Priority Pass / LoungeKey product). Domestic landside FamilyMart + Wu Hua Ma Dumpling House cover short island banks — do not expect a full food court.

Status

Priority Pass and LoungeKey = homee Eat only — soft rooms are airline / paid / DragonPass

PP/LoungeKey Eat ≠ soft lounge; file TWAC before you land.

Live Priority Pass and LoungeKey list only homee KITCHEN (1 set menu / 24h; same-day boarding pass required; à la carte extras charged). Soft product is China Airlines (04:30–19:30), EVA Air (hours vary by weekday), and Nan Yuan International Business Center (DragonPass A10050, paid walk-up). TWAC (twac.immigration.gov.tw) is mandatory for most non-resident foreign arrivals within 7 days before entry — it is not a visa.

Live conditions

Right now at KHH

Security waits and operational status from official feeds, where the airport publishes them.

Honest verdict

Who this airport works for

Best for

Southern Taiwan arrivals wanting MRT-to-hotel without a taxi
Japan / Korea / Hong Kong leisure banks from Kaohsiung
Domestic island hops (Penghu / Kinmen) after an international arrival
Travelers with CI / EVA entitlement, DragonPass, or a paid Nan Yuan visit

Watch out for

No Priority Pass or LoungeKey soft lounge — homee KITCHEN is Eat only
No sterile domestic↔international connection
Single runway 09/27, 00:00–06:30 curfew, and typhoon-season irregular ops
EVA lounge closes 18:00 Mon–Thu/Sat; Domestic taxi NT$50 surcharge from 1 Sep 2026

Airportist Score

Why this score

Overall is the published weighted sum of six categories. No holistic fudge on top.

Ease of use · 25%

Wayfinding, security wait, and layout.

7.8

Comfort & amenities · 20%

Seating, Wi-Fi, cleanliness, and quiet.

6.4

Food & retail · 15%

Food and retail quality and variety.

6.6

Ground access · 15%

Transit, taxi, and parking to the city.

9.0

Reliability · 15%

Delays, cancellations, and weather resilience.

6.1

Lounges · 10%

Worth-it density and access quality.

6.2

Key stats

Editorial reference figures, not live readings.

Annual passengers

6,971,162 (CAA 2025)

Terminals

2 (International + Domestic)

On-time departures

78%

Typical security

12 min

Guide quick facts

From the editorial guide for KHH.

Updated Oct 8, 2026

Kaohsiung International Airport (IATA KHH / ICAO RCKH), also called Siaogang Airport (小港機場), is Taiwan’s second-busiest civil airport after Taoyuan (TPE). It sits in Siaogang District at the south end of Kaohsiung’s Red Line MRT spine. Operator is Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration; passenger site kia.gov.tw. Do not confuse KHH with TPE (Taoyuan), TSA (Songshan), RMQ (Taichung), or TNN (Tainan).
Two passenger terminals linked by a covered pedestrian corridor / observation-deck walk: International Terminal (opened 1997; 3F departures / 1F arrivals; hours 04:20–24:00, extended for delayed flights) and Domestic Terminal (island routes; hours 05:00–21:30). There is no sterile domestic↔international airside walk. Overnight sleeping in the halls after the last flight is not allowed. Airfield night curfew is 00:00–06:30.
Traffic (CAA): calendar 2025 6,971,162 passengers (+18.85% vs 5,865,413 in 2024) with 59,057 movements and 53,442.7 tonnes freight. Jan–Jul 2026 4,731,610 passengers; CAA Aug 2026 guidance is more than 7 million for full-year 2026. The briefing’s 5.74 million line is the 2025 international slice, not a rival airport total.
Single civil runway 09/27 concrete 3,150 × 60 m (airport homepage); elevation 9 m / 30 ft AMSL. Current campus design capacity ~10 million. CAA’s new concentrated terminal targets ~16.5 million by ~2040, with an east parking tower aimed at June 2027 and a northern A-taxiway move aimed at August 2028 while keeping today’s halls open.
Ground: Kaohsiung MRT Red Line station R4 is under / beside the complex — Exit 2 → Domestic, Exit 6 → International. Peak frequency 4–6 minutes; off-peak ≤8 minutes. Official metered taxis at both arrival curbs add a published NT$50 stay surcharge (Domestic restored it from 1 Sep 2026). Intercity coaches include Pingtung Bus 9117 / 9117A / 9117B toward Fangliao / Kenting from Int’l 1F near Gate 5.
Lounges: airport VIP list is China Airlines Lounge (04:30–19:30), EVA Air Lounge (Mon–Thu/Sat 05:00–18:00; Fri/Sun 05:00–20:30), and Nan Yuan International Business Center (05:30–20:30) — all International Terminal 3F airside. Live Priority Pass and LoungeKey directories are Eat only: homee KITCHEN (KHH3D, Gate 26 East Wing, 05:45–20:00). Live DragonPass A10050 is Nan Yuan / Southern Premium Lounge. A separate business-jet CIP room (06:30–22:00) is not a passenger lounge.

17 official sources

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