Hualien Airport
Hualien Airport (Chinese: 花蓮機場; pinyin: Huālián Jīchǎng) (IATA: HUN, ICAO: RCYU) is a commercial airport located in an 11.5-hectare (28-acre) civilian area of a military airbase in Xincheng Township, Hualien County, Taiwan. It primary serves domestic flights although it can handle international charter flights as well. The proximity of Hualien Airport to a military base has caused some tension between travelers, airline officials, and the Republic of China Air Force, especially when civilian flights are cancelled due to war games exercises.
History
The airport was opened on May 16, 1962, for military and domestic civilian use. Before this, Hualien was a military gravel airfield.
On April 27, 2001, Hualien Airport became certified to serve international flights, specifically charter flights to and from Japan (to nearby Yonaguni in particular). The first Japanese charter arrived at Hualien on October 1, 2001. Charter flights to South Korea began on August 8, 2004, and charters to Macau began on October 19, 2004. There has also been discussion of using Hualien for charter flights to mainland China under the Three Links scheme.
