Incheon Int'l Airport Poised
to Make Another Leap Forward

Officially inaugurates the second expansion


Incheon International Airport (IIA), recognized for offering the best services by winning the Best Airport Worldwide Award for the third year in a row, is now poised to make another leap forward with the completion of the second expansion project.
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and the Incheon International Airport Authority (IIAA) held a ceremony to celebrate the official opening of the Incheon International Airport Phase II on June 20 with President Lee Myung-bak, Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Chung Jong-hwan and foreign diplomats in Korea participating.
The grand opening for the second phase expansion came more than seven years after Incheon International Airport made its debut in March 2001. The project to build a 4 km-long third runway -- long enough for the likes of the next-generation super-jumbo jet Airbus 380s to land -- and a second boarding building, 60 new passenger and cargo plane moorings began in 2002 at a cost of 4 trillion won.
A monument, measuring 18.7 meters high and 30 meters long, which was set up at the Central Law Ground in celebration of the completion of the expansion, reads "Flying to the Future,"a symbolic move to emerge as a hub port of Northeast Asia.
Jo Noh-young, director of airport planning at the MLTM said the expansion is expected to raise the international airport's passenger and cargo handling capacity from 30 million passengers to 44 million passengers and from 2.7 million tons from 4.5 million tons on a yearly basis, respectively. The airport will also likely see the number of flights surging from 240,000 to 410,000 annually.
Park Hae-kyu, of the MLTM's Airport Planning Department, said, that IIA has made strides with the number of airlines operating and destinations served rising from 47 airlines and 109 cities at the time of its debut to the current 70 and 169, respectively. The airport ranks second in the world in terms of cargo capacity by handling 2.55 million tons of cargo in 2007.
IIA won the Best Airport Worldwide Award, a kind of overall ranking of a survey of airport services conducted by the Airport Council International (ACI) in Shanghai on April 1, for the third straight year. IIA also snatched the Best Airport in Asia-Pacific Award, the Best Airport Award for medium- and large-sized airports and the Regional Airport People Award selected by airport passengers in the Asia-Pacific region. The awards were presented according to the results of the "Airport Service Quality"monitoring survey of 99 airports around the world in 34 categories -- seven service categories and 27 equipment and operations fields -- according to each quarter of 2007.
Asian countries have turned to development strategies calling for the creation of hub ports, which have high economic spillover effects. In particular, they have been competing in expanding airport infrastructure to gain the upper hand in the aviation market, whose demand is on the rise. For instance, the additional construction of a third runway and a third terminal
at Beijing Capital International Airport has raised its passenger handling capacity from 36 million passengers to 82 million passengers per year, while Shanghai Pudong International Airport has seen its second passenger terminal opening this past March, bringing its total passenger capacity from 20 million to 60 million yearly. In Japan, the construction of a fourth runway at Haneda Airport is to be completed next year, while a project to extend the runway of Narita Airport is under study. In Hong Kong, Chek Rap Kok Airport has seen its passenger terminal expanding its capacity from 35 million passengers to 45 million passengers yearly. Singapore Changi International Airport has expanded its passenger handling capacity from 44 million passengers to 70 million passengers annually.
With the completion of the second expansion project, Incheon International Airport has become the equivalent to a hub port. When the final expansion project is completed, IIA will see its runways rising from the current three to four,
boarding buildings increasing from one to four, while passenger and cargo mooring will be raised from 737 square meters to 1,525 square meters and from 258 square meters to 421 square meters, respectively.
The ministry estimates that the second expansion of Incheon International Airport will bring about production induction effects worth 40 trillion won and the hiring of 260,000 people in 2010.
Following the completion of the second expansion, airline counters have been relocated. Korean Air and member airlines of the Sky Team have moved to counters A through E in the east wing of the passenger terminal, while Asiana and member airlines of the Star Alliance occupy counters J through M in the west wing of the terminal. Passengers of other foreign airlines have to check in at the central E through H counters.
National flag-carrier Korean Air and Asiana Airlines passengers are allowed to board their flights from the passenger terminal from where they checked in. Passengers of foreign airlines have to complete security checks and immigration procedures at the passenger terminal before moving to the new boarding terminal to board their flights. They can utilize the Starline, an automatic train connecting the passenger terminal and the boarding terminal. Two three-carriage trains, each capable of carrying a maximum of 261 people, run at a speed of 70 km per hour, and take one minutes and twenty seconds to go from terminal to terminal.
The departure lounge on the third floor of the boarding terminal is fitted with such facilities as a bookstore/cafe and a resting place for kids. Duty-free shops are lined up along the same floor under their own brand "AIRSTAR,"which was launched under the corporate identity concept, "Star & Starlife."The newly opened duty-free shops, covering 8,970 square meters, in the boarding terminal brings to 14,815 square meters the total space of duty-free outlets. The duty-free shops of the passenger terminal have been relocated. Outlets selling such popular items as cosmetics, alcoholic beverages and tobaccos are lined up along the east and west wings, while shops selling globally-recognized brand items are located in the central area. An Incheon International Airport Authority official said, "The AIRSTAR is a shopping space with a new concept in which people -- men and women as well as the young and the elderly -- can buy items ranging from low- and medium-priced ones to brand items at reasonable prices, and it is expected to post 3 trillion won in sales."On the fourth floor are located the lounges of such airlines as KAL, Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific and JAL. Outside the lounges, there are coolly-designed chairs and sofas where passengers can rest and have a nap. There are also prayer rooms and a museum displaying miniature items of Korean heritage, including the Dabo Pagoda of the Bulguk Temple in Gyeongju and "Mudongdo,"a painting by Kim Hong-do with three-dimensional graphics and animation. nw

President Lee Myung-bak receives a briefing from an official of the Incheon International Airport Authority following a ceremony to mark the opening of the second expansion of the airport on June 20.

Current Status of Incheon Int'l Airport

SPRAWLING HUB - An aerial view of the expansion of Incheon International Airport and a scene at the ceremony to celebrate the completion of the expansion (bottom)