Samjiyon Airport

Samjiyŏn Air Base

IATA: YJSICAO: ZKSE

YJS

Location of airport in North Korea

Summary
Airport type Military
Serves Samjiyŏn, North Korea
Elevation AMSL 4,547 ft / 1,386 m
Coordinates 41°54′25.80″N 128°24′35.60″E / 41.9071667°N 128.4098889°E / 41.9071667; 128.4098889
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
07/25 10,750 3,277 Asphalt
Samjiyon Airport
Chosŏn'gŭl 삼지연공항
Hancha
Revised Romanization Samjiyeon gonghang
McCune–Reischauer Samjiyŏn konghang

Samjiyŏn Airport is a military airport near Samjiyon County, Ryanggang Province, North Korea.

The airport is located near Baekdu Mountain. Tour groups fly to the airport for scheduled journeys to this significant landmark and to see the birthplace of Kim Jong-il. All tours to the area will include a trip here.

There is a high presence of military equipment at this airport, there are large numbers of older Soviet jets such as MiG-15's lined up in sidings next to the runway and many utility vehicles/jeeps. Whether or not these are operational is unknown, but highly unlikely given their apparent condition.

The only flights to this airport are from Pyongyang Sunan International Airport and served by the country's only airline: Air Koryo.

The airport was built in the 1980s to accommodate a ski center planned by a South Korean company. The venture failed, and Samjiyŏn airport now sits in a deserted location.[1]

Facilities

The airfield has a single asphalt runway 07/25, measuring 10750 x 197 feet (3277 x 60 m).[2][3] It has a full length parallel taxiway. Entrances to underground bunkers are clearly visible in satellite photography of the base.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Koryo Pyongyang

References

  1. Bärtås, Magnus; Ekman, Fredrik (2014). Hirviöidenkin on kuoltava: Ryhmämatka Pohjois-Koreaan [All Monsters Must Die: An Excursion to North Korea] (in Finnish). Translated by Eskelinen, Heikki. Helsinki: Tammi. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-951-31-7727-0.
  2. Landings database page "Landings.Com", accessed 4 August 2010.
  3. GlobalSecurity.org "Air Bases - Samjiyon", accessed 4 August 2010.

External links

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