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20 years of Incheon airport: from opening to becoming world-class airport
A Korean Air plane takes off from Incheon International Airport in this undated photo. Courtesy of Incheon International Airport Corp.
By Jun Ji-hye
Incheon airport to mark 20th anniversary March 29
By Jun Ji-hye
Incheon International Airport, which opened on March 29, 2001, with an aim of becoming the hub of Northeast Asian air traffic, will celebrate its 20th anniversary next Monday.
Though the airport has been facing difficulties since last year due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, it had continued its high growth since opening, showing an average annual growth rate of 8 percent in terms of the number of users on the back of rapid increases in demand for air travel, until right up to the virus outbreak.
The airport has also played a role as the country's main gateway, with 77.6 percent of international passengers from and to Korea in 2019 having used it.
The country first came up with the idea of constructing a new international airport in the Seoul metropolitan area, in addition to the existing Gimpo International Airport, in November 1992.
After that, some 5.6 trillion won ($4.96 billion) was injected into the construction, which took more than eight years until the new airport opened in 2001 on reclaimed land among Incheon's islands, according to the Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC), the airport operator.
Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport / Courtesy of Incheon International Airport Corp.
Since its opening, the airport's facilities and capacity have consistently been expanded through the second phase of development from 2001 to 2008 and the third phase from 2009 to 2017, despite several challenges including the global financial meltdown in 2008.
The airport's second passenger terminal, or Terminal 2 (T2), designed to handle some 18 million passengers per year, opened in January 2017 through the third phase of the development plans to better meet increasing demand and have a bigger presence in Northeast Asia.
T2 has also helped relieve the workload from existing facilities and speed up passenger processing times.
Compared to 2002, the numbers of the airport's flights and passengers were 3.1 times and 3.4 times larger, respectively, in 2019 ― before the COVID-19 outbreak ― with the airport becoming the world's third-largest by international cargo and the fifth by international passengers.
Authorities are currently undertaking the fourth phase of the airport's expansion, scheduled to be completed in 2024. This phase is aimed at building a fourth runway and expanding T2, as well as strengthening overall ICT infrastructure.
Once the fourth phase is completed, the airport will be able to process 106 million passengers every year, which would help it jump to become one of the world's top 3 airports and solidify its status as one of the main transportation hubs in all of Northeast Asia, according to IIAC.
As well as its quantitative expansion, the airport has achieved qualitative growth as it has won the world's best airport award for the 12th consecutive year since 2005, winning the title given by the annual Airport Service Quality Award presented by the Airports Council International.
The IIAC has also actively exported its global airport operations knowhow, winning orders for 30 airport projects in 15 countries. The total price of the contracts IIAC won amounts to $226.6 million.
Last month, the airport operator clinched a deal to offer consulting services as a strategic adviser for an airport project in Poland for the next three years.
But the IIAC suffered a net loss of 426.8 billion won last year, its first in 17 years, with the number of international passengers using the airport falling 83 percent from a year earlier due to the pandemic.
Incheon International Airport Corp. President and CEO Kim Kyung-wook poses in front of Terminal 1 of the airport in this undated photo. Courtesy of Incheon International Airport Corp.
IIAC President and CEO Kim Kyung-wook said during a press conference last month that a net loss of 860.9 billion won is also expected this year, as it may take time for air travel demand to be fully recovered amid the prolonged public health crisis.
At the time, Kim said, “We will make thorough preparations for the sudden increase in demand at some point,” raising hope that coronavirus vaccinations could help restore international travel.
IIAC noted that it will continue working to innovate the airport to enhance its global competitive edge, vowing to push for the fourth phase of development without a hitch.
It will celebrate the airport's 20th anniversary at an event hall in Terminal 1, Monday, during which Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun as well as heads of nearby local governments will participate.