IIA Makes Strides

Wins Best Airport Worldwide in IATA/ACI Survey

Some five years have passed since March 29, 2001 when OZ3423 Flight originating from Bangkok landed on a runway of Incheon International Airport (IIA) at 4:40 a.m., heralding IIA's official debut to the global airport map.
Incheon International Airport did not seem to make a good start as the local press made headlines with a series of issues, both large and small. However, since then, things have changed. Incheon International Airport has finally been officially recognized as one of the world's best airports as the latest results of the 2nd IATA/ACI's AETRA Survey revealed IIA as the "Best Airport Worldwide,"a kind of overall ranking category on March 7 just a few weeks ahead of the fifth anniversary day.IIA won the top prize in four of the 11 survey categories ―s Best Airport Worldwide, Best Airport in Asia, Best Airport (among airports handling more than 225 million passengers) and Best Improvement of Overall Satisfaction.
Lee Jae-hee, president of Incheon International Airport Corp., said, "It is more significantly for Incheon International Airport to receive such awards on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of its opening.
These are the results of the airport's all operating parties'concerted efforts to improve services."He stressed that IIA does not rest on its laurel and will strives to become a world-class air hub by continuing to offer such passenger-oriented services as simplification of immigration procedures.
The 2004 IATA/ACI's AETRA Survey ranked IIA second in the Best Worldwide Category. The survey, formerly known as the TATA Global Airport Monitor, is an internally recognized report on assessing 60 airports around the world.
IIA has improved services every year since its opening in 2001 when the airport was ranked fourth. IIA's predecessor, Gimpo International Airport, got lower marks in 2000 ― placing 54th among 57 surveyed airports. Incheon International Airport saw its ranking rising from sixth place in 2002 to fourth in 2003 and second in 2004. IIA has finally risen to the No. 1 position in 2005, beating such prominent global airports as those in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Incheon International Airport had been classified as a category of small- and medium-size airports with a capacity of less than 25 million passengers until 2004, but the airport has been reclassified as a category of large-sized airports with more than 25 million passengers from 2005.
It is noteworthy that IIA beat out such world-class international airports as those in Dallas, Denver and San Francisco in the Unites States; London Heathrow and Gatwich in UK; Schipol, the Netherlands; Geneva; Changi in Singapore; and Dubai in UAE.
In the meantime, last November, IIAC was awarded with the right to host 2007 ACI (Airports Council International) Pacific Regional Assembly in Korea. About 400 airports from 40 countries will participate in the forthcoming ACI Pacific 2007. The conference is expected to not only promote exchanges among the exports within the region, but also serve as a chance to transfer IIA's excellent technology and operation know-how to neighboring airports, IIAC officials said.
There are many stats indicating that Incheon International Airport has made strides. As of February 2006, IIA accommodates 59 airlines operating flights to 125 cities in 39 countries. During 2005, the airport handled some 26 million passengers and 2.14 million tons of cargo to rank 10th and 3rd in the world on an international flight basis, respectively.
IIA's contribution to the national economy is enormous. Incheon International Airport maintained the No. 1 position in terms of trade volume in Korea for the second straight year in 2005, beating Busan Port, as the airport handled trade volumes worth combined $158.8 billion - $86.1 billion worth of imports and $72.7 billion worth of exports. The value of the trade volume, handled by IIA, accounted for 29 percent of the nation's total, and it translates 3.8 times as much as that of Incheon Port.
The Office of Government Policy Coordination selected IIA as the top agency of "excellent practice for reverse benchmarking"during 2005. The number of visitors who made observations for benchmarking has risen to 12,000, an indication of having wiped out all alleged doubts and issues raided at the initial stage of opening Incheon International Airport.

MAMMOTH EXPANSION ― Incheon International Airport Phase II Project calls for expanding its yearly capacity to 100 million passengers and 7 million tons of cargo by 2020. The project, which broke ground in 2002, is now 35.6 percent complete. nw

Lee Jae-hee, president of Incheon International Airport Corp.

IIAC President Lee receives the "Best Airport Worldwide"award from IATA/ACI.

Incheon International Airport