A IRP OR T S
S
tanding calmly in a shuffling queue at Incheon International airport, the words “emergency status” hardly spring to mind. Yet for Seoul’s primary airport, these were precisely the words its president and CEO, Il-Young Chung, used to describe the airport’s capacity issues as it attempted to process millions more passengers
than it had the capacity to handle. While provocative, Chung’s words were a fair assessment
of the status of the airport back in 2017. In the 17 years since it opened, Incheon has managed to hit its original 54 million passenger capacity and then some. In 2016 it processed a total of 57.7 million travellers, with this increasing to 62 million the following year, a jump of 7.5 per cent, according to industry body Airports Council International (ACI). In contrast, Beijing Capital International airport, the busiest in Asia-Pacific and second busiest in the world, grew just 1.5 per cent in that same period. Te airport’s growth has been such that Incheon has been climbing ACI’s ranks of the world’s busiest airports, taking the number 19 spot in 2017 – up from 20th in 2016 and 22nd in 2015. It’s little wonder that the development of the airport’s
new Terminal 2 building, which opened in January this year, had for a long time been at the forefront of Incheon International Airport Corporation’s list of priorities. Chung told Business Traveller before the new terminal
TERMINAL VELOCIT Y
Passenger numbers at Seoul’s Incheon
International airport have boomed in recent years. The new Terminal 2 eases the burden
WOR D S C R A IG B RIGHT busin e s s t r a ve lle r . c o m
building had opened its doors that “a lot of the staff [were] working under emergency status.” Now that it has opened, Terminal 2 has added some 18 million passengers to the airport’s overall handling capacity, bringing the total to 72 million across its two terminals and concourse, and hopefully reduced the stress on those working there, and perhaps passengers too. According to Chung,
Incheon’s growth has been driven by a number of factors. “We’re seeing an increase in travel from [South] Korean citizens, and as our economy develops we expect more business passengers from abroad, as well as within Korea. A lot of LCCs are also serving
new routes – they’re very active in doing so – and we are attracting more foreign carriers to serve our airport.” In particular, Incheon has developed a close relationship
with US carrier Delta, which has positioned Seoul as one of its two major hubs in Asia-Pacific alongside Tokyo Narita. Te airline’s newest aircraſt, the Airbus A350-900, now flies both of its routes between Seoul and Detroit and Atlanta (the latter route having been launched in June 2017). Meanwhile next year, it plans to begin a new →
S E P TEMBE R 2 0 18 47
PHOTO: TERENCE YOUNG
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