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ED Politicized airport project

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Dubious economic feasibility, environmental impact blamed

The blueprint for an international airport to cover the country's southeastern region got the green light at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said 13.7 trillion won ($11 billion) will be invested in the offshore airport, scheduled to open in 2035.

The new airport will be used only for international flights, with the current Gimhae airport to be in operation for domestic flights. The land ministry forecasts the new airport to handle some 23.4 million passengers and 286,000 tons of cargo in 2065.

The outgoing government, with its days numbered, approved the project. But long-drawn controversies will continue amid criticism that the project is economically unviable and could negatively affect the environment in the region.

Since the conservative Park Geun-hye government pushed for a project that would expand the Gimhae airport in Busan in 2016, the issue of building a new southeastern airport has been dormant. Yet the issue resurfaced again during last year's Busan mayoral by-election as the ruling party led a special legislation to woo voters.

What's most worrisome is the project's dubious economic feasibility. The proposed cost of 13.7 trillion won is nearly double the 7.5 trillion won originally estimated by the Busan city government. Under the special law, the project is supposed to skip a preliminary feasibility study. The benefit-cost ratio of the project is tallied at 0.51-0.58. Given that the profitability indicator used in the cost-benefit analysis is far lower than 1.0, the project without a doubt is economically unviable.

The new airport project is simply the product of a political collusion the Moon Jae-in administration and the nation's major parties contrived only to win over voters in the southeastern region. In his statement after the Cabinet meeting, the president expressed concerns about increased costs and longer construction periods. But he cannot avoid criticism for passing the buck to the incoming administration despite being fully aware of a plethora of problems inherent in the politicized project. The new administration should reconsider the project.