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Incheon Airport on Top of Service
I By Lee Chae-wook
At 4:46 a.m. March 28, 2001, not only officials of Incheon International Airport (IIA) but also government dignitaries, the media and representatives from the aviation industry worldwide were holding their breath and fixing their eyes on the runways. It was an exciting moment, having the eyes of the world glued on Korea's new gateway. Some were eager to see the dream come true, while others were looking for a scoop or exclusive camera footage if things went awry.
Amidst such public attention, Asiana Flight 3423 landed softly from Bangkok showing the world the flawless opening of the airport. And in the nine years since, the IIA has achieved many successes in every step it has taken. The flashy opening was reputed the perfect showcase, after a number of new airports including Denver Airport in the U.S., Hong Kong Airport, Athens Airport in Greece, Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia, and Kansai Airport in Japan experienced operational failures before or after their opening. Some of them required massive spending for complementary work in follow-up construction.
What made it a real feat for Korea was the fact that the IIA construction and its operation were possible through the country's own state-of-the-art techniques and management skills. Representing overall achievement in the software and hardware capacity of a nation, an airport is the face of a nation, a measurement of national power, and a symbol of national competitiveness in the era of globalization.
There are over 200 nations on the planet, but only a few leading countries are equipped with the technology to build and operate the most sophisticated large-scale airports that can become a hub like Incheon without relying on borrowed expertise. Even the most advanced countries do not often open their airports flawlessly at the first try. And in this regard, the successful opening of Incheon airport was a rare success that startled the world, showing Korea's underlying strength and raising its national pride, while dispelling doubts and concerns that plagued the construction work.
World's best airport
Since its opening in 2001, Incheon Airport has continued its fast growth in services throughput of 8 percent every year, ranking second in international cargo volume and 12th in international passenger flights. The number of passengers also grew from a meager 14.5 million in the early stages of airport operations to exceed 100 million in cumulative terms in 2005, and it surpassed the 200 million mark on March 9, 2009. The 200 million passengers translate to every Korean visiting the Airport at least 4.3 times over the past eight years. In 2007, the airport officially became mid-to-large-sized by serving over 30 million passengers.
When it comes to cargo transportation, the volume jumped from 1.7 million tons to 2.55 million tons, recording a high of 8.6 percent annual growth, which made the airport the second busiest in the world. With the transshipment rate posting 50 percent, the airport has been faithfully serving its role as a logistics hub. The recent worldwide economic recession shrank both passenger and cargo transportation.
However, the joint initiative of the government and the Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) to turn the airport into a hub began to bear fruit and secured a new breakthrough in transfer rates, which previously had staggered to 11 to 12 percent, achieving 18.5 percent in cumulative terms with transfer passengers surpassing 5 million annually. Incheon International Airport, with its transfer passenger numbers expected to grow continuously, is set to win the competition to become the hub of Northeast Asia.
Amidst public interest and praise, the airport has grown not only in air transportation but also in its contribution to the national economy. As of 2009, the airport served three-quarters of all travelers arriving and departing Korea as well as a quarter of the nation's exports and imports in terms of value, thereby serving the role of a gateway to Korea and the forefront of exports.
[Picture]
Incheon International Airport has become pride of Korea just nine years after opening in 2001. Its third-stage construction will start to accommodate 100 million passengers and 8 million tons of cargo. Korea began to export software on the construction and management of airports worldwide.
On top of its quantitative growth, Incheon Airport has been acclaimed for its world quality services. For the first time in aviation history, the airport has been rated first for five consecutive years in the Airport Services Quality Survey conducted by the Airports Council International (ACI), an examiner of quality at over 1,700 airports.
The airport ranked first by scoring 4.99 out of 5 marks from 2005 to 2009, for the first time since the survey began. Additionally, the airport swept the top awards in three categories: Best Airport Worldwide for two consecutive years; Best Airport in Asia-Pacific; and Best Airport by Throughput of 25 to 40 Million Passengers. The airport was also granted the ACI Special Award for its pioneering role in enhancing the services quality of airports worldwide.
Incheon International Airport is the only airport attaining the top score in Airport Service Quality (ASQ) for five years in a row. Following this record is Dubai Airport, which won the laurel for three consecutive years in the survey that in 1993. In addition to winning the ASQ five times, an aviation history first, the IIA hit a “Grand Slam” of global airport awards by winning the world's best airport title from Global Traveler for four consecutive years and awards from Business Traveler, Skytrax and the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). The worldwide acknowledgment through such prestigious awards has made the airport a proud premier brand for the country.
Learn Incheon Airport!
Incheon Airport is now flooded with visits by experts from all over the world, aiming to learn technology and management skills in airport construction and operations. Since 2001 when the airport opened, over 4,500 airport managers, government officials and those engaged in the aviation industry have visited the airport to take in its worldclass construction and operational knowhow. In 2009 alone, over 680 people from America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia called on the airport. More remarkably, the “Learn Incheon Airport” observation tour has recently been taken by officials from the U.S., the U.K., France, the Netherlands, Japan and Singapore, which have been considered considerably ahead of Korea in terms of airport operations.
To date, IIAC has exported its brand power, world-class technology and knowhow accumulated through its first and second-phase construction and operations while preparing the airport to effectively cope with cutthroat competition in the wake of the liberalization of the global air transport market. In the meantime, it has also promoted a futureoriented strategic plan under the goal of growing to become a global airport corporation by 2020 amidst a changing environment where China and India are growing at a breathtaking pace. In February 2009, the IIAC took part in a consulting project for the first time at Erbil Airport, Iraq, which amounted to $31.5 million. In December 2009, it won the contract and formulated a master plan for Khabarovsk Airport in Russia. Presently, the airport's overseas business is in its early stages, with its affairs mainly restricted to contract-based exports of airport construction and operational experiences and knowhow. From this year, however, IIAC plans to expand its business to new areas such as equity investment, entrusted operation, build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects and airport privatization. Doing so will help transform the operator into a leader in the global airport business.
Competition Among Airports
Intensifying competition among airlines is expected as aviation liberalization among Korea, China and Japan takes off and ASEAN aviation liberalization likely follows suit in 2015. The escalating competition is expected to fuel rivalry among airports in their pursuit to become transport hubs ahead of others. With this trend continuing existing facilities at Incheon International Airport will be saturated over the 2010-2017 period.
A third phase of construction is required. This will need approximately 4 trillion won, and the construction will be carried out from 2012 with its dedication planned for 2015. With the construction completed, annual capacities are expected to grow to accommodate 62 million passengers and 5.8 million tons of cargo annually, a jump from the current 44 million and 4.5 million, respectively. Alongside the third phase of construction and development of additional infrastructure at the airport, the private development of neighboring areas is under study. The domestic and foreign investor-led development plan is to develop an amenities complex accommodating venues for shopping, relaxation, tourism, leisure, entertainment, conventions and logistics, thereby creating added value in varying concepts.
To this end, International Business Center-I will meet passengers' lodging and business and shopping demands. The southern reservoir basin will be transformed to accommodate water leisure sports facilities. At the International Business Center-II complex, business amenities will be set up to allow for targeted outbound Chinese and Japanese travelers, set to reach 240 million in number by 2020, to indulge themselves in world-class international business, entertainment and other commercial activities. With the development completed, the facilities, along with the airport, will emerge as an unparalleled Asian landmark. Moreover, in 2012 for the first time in Korea, an Urban Transit Maglev (UTM) train service will make its debut to catch the public eye and connect such major facilities as the Passenger Terminal Transportation Center, International Business Center I, Water Park and Airport Railway.
Having created a new paradigm of airport facilities and software, Incheon International Airport will continue to expand its facilities gradually through the third phase construction while harnessing accumulated knowhow in accelerating its move to take part in overseas airport projects. At the same time, the airport will transform its surroundings into an “Air City,” a new multidimensional concept that binds venues for logistics, business, leisure, and entertainment. And by doing so, the airport will grow to become the true leading global airport to greet a new era where 100 million passengers and 8 million tons of cargo are serviced at the airport.
The very “today” and “future” of Incheon International Airport is and will be pictured as “the airport all Korean people are proud of; the airport everyone in the world wishes to visit; the airport envied by all airports worldwide; and the airport that makes all its operators happy and proud.”
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Policymakers proud of achievement
The Korean government has enough reasonto be proud of its shining achievement in making the Incheon International Airport what it is today. Of 22 candidate sites, the government chose Yeongjong Island as the location for a new airport, which is now Incheon International Airport, as the site proved the most suited in terms of economic feasibility, scalability, future demand for air travel, and so on.
Incheon International Airport was constructed on reclaimed land between Yeongjong Island and Yeongyu Island. Shallow water allowed the production of 56 square kilometers land for the airport construction at a relatively low cost.
And the reclamation made it possible to expand the land flexibly according to the future demand of air transportation. Additionally, the low construction cost allowed the Airport to acquire price competitiveness in peer comparison, such aslanding fees and passenger facility charges. Located at the center of Northeast Asia, Yeongjong Island has over 60 cities with populations of over 1 million in reach within 3.5 hours of flight.
Following the elaborate site selection, phase 1 construction started in 1992. After 100 months of hard work at a cost of 5.6 trillion won, the unprecedented national project was successfully completed in March 2001. Based on its ample market potential, the government confirmed its plan to use Incheon as the main airport for international flights in 1997, even before its opening. And since then, the government’s drive to turn it into an aviation hub has continued.
As a result, IIA has grown to serve 64 airlines connecting 177 cities worldwide, in comparison with 47 airlines covering 109 cities in its early days. Today, while serving as a Northeast Asian hub airport connecting Europe, America, Asia and Southeast Asia, IIA has gained international fame by winning the Best Airport Worldwide award for five consecutive years.
|
Incheon Airport on Top of Service
I By Lee Chae-wook
At 4:46 a.m. March 28, 2001, not only officials of Incheon International Airport (IIA) but also government dignitaries, the media and representatives from the aviation industry worldwide were holding their breath and fixing their eyes on the runways. It was an exciting moment, having the eyes of the world glued on Korea's new gateway. Some were eager to see the dream come true, while others were looking for a scoop or exclusive camera footage if things went awry.
Amidst such public attention, Asiana Flight 3423 landed softly from Bangkok showing the world the flawless opening of the airport. And in the nine years since, the IIA has achieved many successes in every step it has taken. The flashy opening was reputed the perfect showcase, after a number of new airports including Denver Airport in the U.S., Hong Kong Airport, Athens Airport in Greece, Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia, and Kansai Airport in Japan experienced operational failures before or after their opening. Some of them required massive spending for complementary work in follow-up construction.
What made it a real feat for Korea was the fact that the IIA construction and its operation were possible through the country's own state-of-the-art techniques and management skills. Representing overall achievement in the software and hardware capacity of a nation, an airport is the face of a nation, a measurement of national power, and a symbol of national competitiveness in the era of globalization.
There are over 200 nations on the planet, but only a few leading countries are equipped with the technology to build and operate the most sophisticated large-scale airports that can become a hub like Incheon without relying on borrowed expertise. Even the most advanced countries do not often open their airports flawlessly at the first try. And in this regard, the successful opening of Incheon airport was a rare success that startled the world, showing Korea's underlying strength and raising its national pride, while dispelling doubts and concerns that plagued the construction work.
World's best airport
Since its opening in 2001, Incheon Airport has continued its fast growth in services throughput of 8 percent every year, ranking second in international cargo volume and 12th in international passenger flights. The number of passengers also grew from a meager 14.5 million in the early stages of airport operations to exceed 100 million in cumulative terms in 2005, and it surpassed the 200 million mark on March 9, 2009. The 200 million passengers translate to every Korean visiting the Airport at least 4.3 times over the past eight years. In 2007, the airport officially became mid-to-large-sized by serving over 30 million passengers.
When it comes to cargo transportation, the volume jumped from 1.7 million tons to 2.55 million tons, recording a high of 8.6 percent annual growth, which made the airport the second busiest in the world. With the transshipment rate posting 50 percent, the airport has been faithfully serving its role as a logistics hub. The recent worldwide economic recession shrank both passenger and cargo transportation.
However, the joint initiative of the government and the Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) to turn the airport into a hub began to bear fruit and secured a new breakthrough in transfer rates, which previously had staggered to 11 to 12 percent, achieving 18.5 percent in cumulative terms with transfer passengers surpassing 5 million annually. Incheon International Airport, with its transfer passenger numbers expected to grow continuously, is set to win the competition to become the hub of Northeast Asia.
Amidst public interest and praise, the airport has grown not only in air transportation but also in its contribution to the national economy. As of 2009, the airport served three-quarters of all travelers arriving and departing Korea as well as a quarter of the nation's exports and imports in terms of value, thereby serving the role of a gateway to Korea and the forefront of exports.
[Picture]
Incheon International Airport has become pride of Korea just nine years after opening in 2001. Its third-stage construction will start to accommodate 100 million passengers and 8 million tons of cargo. Korea began to export software on the construction and management of airports worldwide.
On top of its quantitative growth, Incheon Airport has been acclaimed for its world quality services. For the first time in aviation history, the airport has been rated first for five consecutive years in the Airport Services Quality Survey conducted by the Airports Council International (ACI), an examiner of quality at over 1,700 airports.
The airport ranked first by scoring 4.99 out of 5 marks from 2005 to 2009, for the first time since the survey began. Additionally, the airport swept the top awards in three categories: Best Airport Worldwide for two consecutive years; Best Airport in Asia-Pacific; and Best Airport by Throughput of 25 to 40 Million Passengers. The airport was also granted the ACI Special Award for its pioneering role in enhancing the services quality of airports worldwide.
Incheon International Airport is the only airport attaining the top score in Airport Service Quality (ASQ) for five years in a row. Following this record is Dubai Airport, which won the laurel for three consecutive years in the survey that in 1993. In addition to winning the ASQ five times, an aviation history first, the IIA hit a “Grand Slam” of global airport awards by winning the world's best airport title from Global Traveler for four consecutive years and awards from Business Traveler, Skytrax and the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). The worldwide acknowledgment through such prestigious awards has made the airport a proud premier brand for the country.
Learn Incheon Airport!
Incheon Airport is now flooded with visits by experts from all over the world, aiming to learn technology and management skills in airport construction and operations. Since 2001 when the airport opened, over 4,500 airport managers, government officials and those engaged in the aviation industry have visited the airport to take in its worldclass construction and operational knowhow. In 2009 alone, over 680 people from America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia called on the airport. More remarkably, the “Learn Incheon Airport” observation tour has recently been taken by officials from the U.S., the U.K., France, the Netherlands, Japan and Singapore, which have been considered considerably ahead of Korea in terms of airport operations.
To date, IIAC has exported its brand power, world-class technology and knowhow accumulated through its first and second-phase construction and operations while preparing the airport to effectively cope with cutthroat competition in the wake of the liberalization of the global air transport market. In the meantime, it has also promoted a futureoriented strategic plan under the goal of growing to become a global airport corporation by 2020 amidst a changing environment where China and India are growing at a breathtaking pace. In February 2009, the IIAC took part in a consulting project for the first time at Erbil Airport, Iraq, which amounted to $31.5 million. In December 2009, it won the contract and formulated a master plan for Khabarovsk Airport in Russia. Presently, the airport's overseas business is in its early stages, with its affairs mainly restricted to contract-based exports of airport construction and operational experiences and knowhow. From this year, however, IIAC plans to expand its business to new areas such as equity investment, entrusted operation, build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects and airport privatization. Doing so will help transform the operator into a leader in the global airport business.
Competition Among Airports
Intensifying competition among airlines is expected as aviation liberalization among Korea, China and Japan takes off and ASEAN aviation liberalization likely follows suit in 2015. The escalating competition is expected to fuel rivalry among airports in their pursuit to become transport hubs ahead of others. With this trend continuing existing facilities at Incheon International Airport will be saturated over the 2010-2017 period.
A third phase of construction is required. This will need approximately 4 trillion won, and the construction will be carried out from 2012 with its dedication planned for 2015. With the construction completed, annual capacities are expected to grow to accommodate 62 million passengers and 5.8 million tons of cargo annually, a jump from the current 44 million and 4.5 million, respectively. Alongside the third phase of construction and development of additional infrastructure at the airport, the private development of neighboring areas is under study. The domestic and foreign investor-led development plan is to develop an amenities complex accommodating venues for shopping, relaxation, tourism, leisure, entertainment, conventions and logistics, thereby creating added value in varying concepts.
To this end, International Business Center-I will meet passengers' lodging and business and shopping demands. The southern reservoir basin will be transformed to accommodate water leisure sports facilities. At the International Business Center-II complex, business amenities will be set up to allow for targeted outbound Chinese and Japanese travelers, set to reach 240 million in number by 2020, to indulge themselves in world-class international business, entertainment and other commercial activities. With the development completed, the facilities, along with the airport, will emerge as an unparalleled Asian landmark. Moreover, in 2012 for the first time in Korea, an Urban Transit Maglev (UTM) train service will make its debut to catch the public eye and connect such major facilities as the Passenger Terminal Transportation Center, International Business Center I, Water Park and Airport Railway.
Having created a new paradigm of airport facilities and software, Incheon International Airport will continue to expand its facilities gradually through the third phase construction while harnessing accumulated knowhow in accelerating its move to take part in overseas airport projects. At the same time, the airport will transform its surroundings into an “Air City,” a new multidimensional concept that binds venues for logistics, business, leisure, and entertainment. And by doing so, the airport will grow to become the true leading global airport to greet a new era where 100 million passengers and 8 million tons of cargo are serviced at the airport.
The very “today” and “future” of Incheon International Airport is and will be pictured as “the airport all Korean people are proud of; the airport everyone in the world wishes to visit; the airport envied by all airports worldwide; and the airport that makes all its operators happy and proud.”
|
Policymakers proud of achievement
The Korean government has enough reasonto be proud of its shining achievement in making the Incheon International Airport what it is today. Of 22 candidate sites, the government chose Yeongjong Island as the location for a new airport, which is now Incheon International Airport, as the site proved the most suited in terms of economic feasibility, scalability, future demand for air travel, and so on.
Incheon International Airport was constructed on reclaimed land between Yeongjong Island and Yeongyu Island. Shallow water allowed the production of 56 square kilometers land for the airport construction at a relatively low cost.
And the reclamation made it possible to expand the land flexibly according to the future demand of air transportation. Additionally, the low construction cost allowed the Airport to acquire price competitiveness in peer comparison, such aslanding fees and passenger facility charges. Located at the center of Northeast Asia, Yeongjong Island has over 60 cities with populations of over 1 million in reach within 3.5 hours of flight.
Following the elaborate site selection, phase 1 construction started in 1992. After 100 months of hard work at a cost of 5.6 trillion won, the unprecedented national project was successfully completed in March 2001. Based on its ample market potential, the government confirmed its plan to use Incheon as the main airport for international flights in 1997, even before its opening. And since then, the government’s drive to turn it into an aviation hub has continued.
As a result, IIA has grown to serve 64 airlines connecting 177 cities worldwide, in comparison with 47 airlines covering 109 cities in its early days. Today, while serving as a Northeast Asian hub airport connecting Europe, America, Asia and Southeast Asia, IIA has gained international fame by winning the Best Airport Worldwide award for five consecutive years.
|
Incheon Airport on Top of Service
I By Lee Chae-wook
At 4:46 a.m. March 28, 2001, not only officials of Incheon International Airport (IIA) but also government dignitaries, the media and representatives from the aviation industry worldwide were holding their breath and fixing their eyes on the runways. It was an exciting moment, having the eyes of the world glued on Korea's new gateway. Some were eager to see the dream come true, while others were looking for a scoop or exclusive camera footage if things went awry.
Amidst such public attention, Asiana Flight 3423 landed softly from Bangkok showing the world the flawless opening of the airport. And in the nine years since, the IIA has achieved many successes in every step it has taken. The flashy opening was reputed the perfect showcase, after a number of new airports including Denver Airport in the U.S., Hong Kong Airport, Athens Airport in Greece, Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia, and Kansai Airport in Japan experienced operational failures before or after their opening. Some of them required massive spending for complementary work in follow-up construction.
What made it a real feat for Korea was the fact that the IIA construction and its operation were possible through the country's own state-of-the-art techniques and management skills. Representing overall achievement in the software and hardware capacity of a nation, an airport is the face of a nation, a measurement of national power, and a symbol of national competitiveness in the era of globalization.
There are over 200 nations on the planet, but only a few leading countries are equipped with the technology to build and operate the most sophisticated large-scale airports that can become a hub like Incheon without relying on borrowed expertise. Even the most advanced countries do not often open their airports flawlessly at the first try. And in this regard, the successful opening of Incheon airport was a rare success that startled the world, showing Korea's underlying strength and raising its national pride, while dispelling doubts and concerns that plagued the construction work.
World's best airport
Since its opening in 2001, Incheon Airport has continued its fast growth in services throughput of 8 percent every year, ranking second in international cargo volume and 12th in international passenger flights. The number of passengers also grew from a meager 14.5 million in the early stages of airport operations to exceed 100 million in cumulative terms in 2005, and it surpassed the 200 million mark on March 9, 2009. The 200 million passengers translate to every Korean visiting the Airport at least 4.3 times over the past eight years. In 2007, the airport officially became mid-to-large-sized by serving over 30 million passengers.
When it comes to cargo transportation, the volume jumped from 1.7 million tons to 2.55 million tons, recording a high of 8.6 percent annual growth, which made the airport the second busiest in the world. With the transshipment rate posting 50 percent, the airport has been faithfully serving its role as a logistics hub. The recent worldwide economic recession shrank both passenger and cargo transportation.
However, the joint initiative of the government and the Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) to turn the airport into a hub began to bear fruit and secured a new breakthrough in transfer rates, which previously had staggered to 11 to 12 percent, achieving 18.5 percent in cumulative terms with transfer passengers surpassing 5 million annually. Incheon International Airport, with its transfer passenger numbers expected to grow continuously, is set to win the competition to become the hub of Northeast Asia.
Amidst public interest and praise, the airport has grown not only in air transportation but also in its contribution to the national economy. As of 2009, the airport served three-quarters of all travelers arriving and departing Korea as well as a quarter of the nation's exports and imports in terms of value, thereby serving the role of a gateway to Korea and the forefront of exports.
[Picture]
Incheon International Airport has become pride of Korea just nine years after opening in 2001. Its third-stage construction will start to accommodate 100 million passengers and 8 million tons of cargo. Korea began to export software on the construction and management of airports worldwide.
On top of its quantitative growth, Incheon Airport has been acclaimed for its world quality services. For the first time in aviation history, the airport has been rated first for five consecutive years in the Airport Services Quality Survey conducted by the Airports Council International (ACI), an examiner of quality at over 1,700 airports.
The airport ranked first by scoring 4.99 out of 5 marks from 2005 to 2009, for the first time since the survey began. Additionally, the airport swept the top awards in three categories: Best Airport Worldwide for two consecutive years; Best Airport in Asia-Pacific; and Best Airport by Throughput of 25 to 40 Million Passengers. The airport was also granted the ACI Special Award for its pioneering role in enhancing the services quality of airports worldwide.
Incheon International Airport is the only airport attaining the top score in Airport Service Quality (ASQ) for five years in a row. Following this record is Dubai Airport, which won the laurel for three consecutive years in the survey that in 1993. In addition to winning the ASQ five times, an aviation history first, the IIA hit a “Grand Slam” of global airport awards by winning the world's best airport title from Global Traveler for four consecutive years and awards from Business Traveler, Skytrax and the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). The worldwide acknowledgment through such prestigious awards has made the airport a proud premier brand for the country.
Learn Incheon Airport!
Incheon Airport is now flooded with visits by experts from all over the world, aiming to learn technology and management skills in airport construction and operations. Since 2001 when the airport opened, over 4,500 airport managers, government officials and those engaged in the aviation industry have visited the airport to take in its worldclass construction and operational knowhow. In 2009 alone, over 680 people from America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia called on the airport. More remarkably, the “Learn Incheon Airport” observation tour has recently been taken by officials from the U.S., the U.K., France, the Netherlands, Japan and Singapore, which have been considered considerably ahead of Korea in terms of airport operations.
To date, IIAC has exported its brand power, world-class technology and knowhow accumulated through its first and second-phase construction and operations while preparing the airport to effectively cope with cutthroat competition in the wake of the liberalization of the global air transport market. In the meantime, it has also promoted a futureoriented strategic plan under the goal of growing to become a global airport corporation by 2020 amidst a changing environment where China and India are growing at a breathtaking pace. In February 2009, the IIAC took part in a consulting project for the first time at Erbil Airport, Iraq, which amounted to $31.5 million. In December 2009, it won the contract and formulated a master plan for Khabarovsk Airport in Russia. Presently, the airport's overseas business is in its early stages, with its affairs mainly restricted to contract-based exports of airport construction and operational experiences and knowhow. From this year, however, IIAC plans to expand its business to new areas such as equity investment, entrusted operation, build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects and airport privatization. Doing so will help transform the operator into a leader in the global airport business.
Competition Among Airports
Intensifying competition among airlines is expected as aviation liberalization among Korea, China and Japan takes off and ASEAN aviation liberalization likely follows suit in 2015. The escalating competition is expected to fuel rivalry among airports in their pursuit to become transport hubs ahead of others. With this trend continuing existing facilities at Incheon International Airport will be saturated over the 2010-2017 period.
A third phase of construction is required. This will need approximately 4 trillion won, and the construction will be carried out from 2012 with its dedication planned for 2015. With the construction completed, annual capacities are expected to grow to accommodate 62 million passengers and 5.8 million tons of cargo annually, a jump from the current 44 million and 4.5 million, respectively. Alongside the third phase of construction and development of additional infrastructure at the airport, the private development of neighboring areas is under study. The domestic and foreign investor-led development plan is to develop an amenities complex accommodating venues for shopping, relaxation, tourism, leisure, entertainment, conventions and logistics, thereby creating added value in varying concepts.
To this end, International Business Center-I will meet passengers' lodging and business and shopping demands. The southern reservoir basin will be transformed to accommodate water leisure sports facilities. At the International Business Center-II complex, business amenities will be set up to allow for targeted outbound Chinese and Japanese travelers, set to reach 240 million in number by 2020, to indulge themselves in world-class international business, entertainment and other commercial activities. With the development completed, the facilities, along with the airport, will emerge as an unparalleled Asian landmark. Moreover, in 2012 for the first time in Korea, an Urban Transit Maglev (UTM) train service will make its debut to catch the public eye and connect such major facilities as the Passenger Terminal Transportation Center, International Business Center I, Water Park and Airport Railway.
Having created a new paradigm of airport facilities and software, Incheon International Airport will continue to expand its facilities gradually through the third phase construction while harnessing accumulated knowhow in accelerating its move to take part in overseas airport projects. At the same time, the airport will transform its surroundings into an “Air City,” a new multidimensional concept that binds venues for logistics, business, leisure, and entertainment. And by doing so, the airport will grow to become the true leading global airport to greet a new era where 100 million passengers and 8 million tons of cargo are serviced at the airport.
The very “today” and “future” of Incheon International Airport is and will be pictured as “the airport all Korean people are proud of; the airport everyone in the world wishes to visit; the airport envied by all airports worldwide; and the airport that makes all its operators happy and proud.”
|
Policymakers proud of achievement
The Korean government has enough reasonto be proud of its shining achievement in making the Incheon International Airport what it is today. Of 22 candidate sites, the government chose Yeongjong Island as the location for a new airport, which is now Incheon International Airport, as the site proved the most suited in terms of economic feasibility, scalability, future demand for air travel, and so on.
Incheon International Airport was constructed on reclaimed land between Yeongjong Island and Yeongyu Island. Shallow water allowed the production of 56 square kilometers land for the airport construction at a relatively low cost.
And the reclamation made it possible to expand the land flexibly according to the future demand of air transportation. Additionally, the low construction cost allowed the Airport to acquire price competitiveness in peer comparison, such aslanding fees and passenger facility charges. Located at the center of Northeast Asia, Yeongjong Island has over 60 cities with populations of over 1 million in reach within 3.5 hours of flight.
Following the elaborate site selection, phase 1 construction started in 1992. After 100 months of hard work at a cost of 5.6 trillion won, the unprecedented national project was successfully completed in March 2001. Based on its ample market potential, the government confirmed its plan to use Incheon as the main airport for international flights in 1997, even before its opening. And since then, the government’s drive to turn it into an aviation hub has continued.
As a result, IIA has grown to serve 64 airlines connecting 177 cities worldwide, in comparison with 47 airlines covering 109 cities in its early days. Today, while serving as a Northeast Asian hub airport connecting Europe, America, Asia and Southeast Asia, IIA has gained international fame by winning the Best Airport Worldwide award for five consecutive years.
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