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| Jeju International Airport. / Korea Times file |
By Kim Hyun-bin
The plan to build a second airport on Jeju Island has finally gotten the nod after years of uncertainty and several ups and downs, but it is still facing challenges ahead of its soft landing by 2025.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the 4.87 trillion won ($4.18 billion) construction plan, putting an end to 29 years of dispute over the development. The construction will begin in 2021 for completion in 2025. It will be built in Seogwipo City in southern Jeju.
First of all, the new airport plan will have to overcome strong protests from local residents and environmental civic groups, who fear the massive construction of the airport would destroy the island's natural environment.
The disagreement was already seen on Wednesday when the ministry planned initially to announce the construction project in a meeting with local residents, but it was canceled because those who opposed it, including environmental activists, occupied the meeting venue. As a result, the plan was released via press statement.
Protesters are also claiming that the selection of the site was flawed from the beginning and the new airport will raise real estate prices.
"The site for the new airport has been wrongfully selected, and the second airport will bring excessive tourists which will create a vicious cycle that will lead to a drastic increase in real estate prices and trash problems and eventually destroy the environment," a protestor said.
The second airport is set to take over 50 percent of the domestic flights from existing Jeju International Airport to relieve the air congestion, as it has been saturated over the years due to increased tourism in the region. There will be no international flights.
In that respect, the government will have to work hard to assign domestic airlines to operate in the new base.
Many experts say the government will have to force and allocate airlines to operate at the new airport as it does not offer international flights, which are most profitable for local airlines.
The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province wanted to operate international flights for both airports in the basic plan, but was rejected by the central government.
However, the transport ministry insists operating two airports will help counter unpredictable weather and reduce air traffic congestion.
"By having two airports on Jeju, it can be used to minimize uncertainties and the new airport could be used to transfer flights during unpredictable events such as bad weather, including heavy snow and storms that often temporarily shut down the existing airport," a ministry official said.
However, experts point out it will be technically and structurally difficult to accommodate international flights through the second airport, which will be only allowed to operate domestic flights.
Once built, it will be able to accommodate 18.98 million passengers a year.
The number of takeoffs and landings at Jeju International Airport reached 167,000 in 2017 and 154,000 last year, which is close to its full capacity of 172,000. The passenger terminal users reached 29.6 million in 2017 and 27.2 million in 2018, both exceeding the airport's capacity of 25.91 million annual passengers.
Flight delays have become a daily routine at the Jeju airport as its runway capacity draws near to its limit.
To make matters worse, the number of air passengers arriving at and departing the island is expected to surpass 41 million by 2055 including both domestic and international flights.
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