Kinmen Airport originated from a military base which was established in 1949. It was located at Si-hung, a small village on the eastern side of the island. In June of 1951 the Defense Ministry ratified Transasia Airways (TNA) to launch its first flight to Kinmen and thus a once-a-week routine flight began operation. Not until August 23, 1958 was the flight canceled, due to the battle against Chinese Communists.
Then, Kinmen Airport moved to Shang-I, where it is now located, and the Air Force began to take the place of TNA in consideration of the war. As passengers traveling between Kinmen and Taiwan increased vehemently, the government had to project civil flights on this island to meet the demands of the people. Through communication among the authorities concerned, the first civil flight became possible and began upon operation by FAT in Sept ember of 1987, sharing the same apron and terminal building with the Air Force at the airport. Since then, a new era of civil flight on Kinmen has begun. Besides FAT, at that time, many other airlines such as TNA, UIA, FOS, GCA, EVA, and ULA joined the operation afterwards.
Taking the unceasing growth of passengers to Kinmen into consideration, the CAA (Civil Aeronautics Administration) also coordinated with the government's general construction plan to spend NT$ 1. 5 billion and build a new civil airport to the northeastern side of the military airport. On March 1st, 1994 Kinmen Civil Airport was formally established, aiming at providing much more safety, convenience, and comfort for the passengers, and promoting the progress and prosperity of Kinmen.
It has been almost eight years since Kinmen Airport was constructed. The airport has well served an average of 1.2 million passengers every year to help contribute a great deal to the development of Kinmen's tourism and transportation. It is also highly appraised by passengers and visitors, as well as the local inhabitants. As soon as it took over Kinmen Airport on March 3rd of 2000, CAA pulled off the improvement of facilities, flight security, and quality of service at the airport.
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