Busan Gimhae (PUS) and the transfer at Sasang
The airport is on the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail, which you join from Subway Line 2 at Sasang. With a card the transfer costs 500 won; with a paper ticket you pay the whole second fare.
- The airport is on the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail (BGL), not on the subway itself.
- You transfer at Sasang, from Subway Line 2.
- Subway 1,600 won plus light rail 1,600 won, with a 500 won transfer, totalling 2,100 won.
- The transfer discount needs a card. Paper subway tickets and BGL token tickets do not get it.
- From Busan Station: Line 1 to Seomyeon, Line 2 to Sasang, then the light rail.
Two systems, one journey
- Gimhae International sits on the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail, a separate operator from the Busan subway, and the two meet at Sasang.
- From downtown, the route is: Busan Station on Subway Line 1, change at Seomyeon to Line 2, change at Sasang to the light rail. Two changes, and neither is difficult.
The fare, and the 500 won trap
- The subway fare and the light rail fare are 1,600 won each.
- Transferring between them costs 500 won, so the whole trip is 2,100 won rather than 3,200.
- That discount only exists if you tap a card. With a paper ticket for the subway, or a token ticket for the light rail, you have to buy the second journey outright and there is no transfer discount at all.
Which card
- Hanaro Card is Busan's own transit pass.
- Mybi, T-money, Cashbee and the Gimhae-for-you Card also work and also earn the transfer discount, so a card bought in Seoul is fine here.
- Buy or top up before you leave the airport, because that is the last easy place to do it with a suitcase.
The alternative
- Airport limousine buses and taxis run into Busan and make more sense with heavy luggage or late at night. The light rail is the cheap, reliable, two-change option.
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