Incheon International Airport (IIA) Шаблон:Airport codes (한국어. 인천국제공항, sometimes referred to as Seoul-Incheon International Airport) is the largest airport in South Korea, the primary airport serving the Seoul Capital Area, and one of the largest and busiest airports in the world.
For nine years in a row (2005–present), it was rated the best airport worldwide by Airports Council International. The airport has a golf course, spa, private sleeping rooms, ice skating rink, a casino, indoor gardens and a Museum of Korean Culture. Airport authorities claim that average departure and arrival takes only 19 minutes (60 minutes world-wide industry average) and 12 minutes (45 minutes) respectively, significantly lower than the rest of the world, making it one of the fastest airports in the world for customs processing. Its duty-free shopping mall has been rated the world's best for three years in a row in 2013 by Business Traveller. Incheon International Airport also claims that it has only a 0.0001% baggage mishandling rate.
Located Шаблон:Convert west of Seoul, the capital and the largest city of South Korea, Incheon International Airport is the main hub for Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, and Polar Air Cargo. The airport serves as a hub for international civilian air transportation and cargo traffic in East Asia. Incheon International Airport is also currently Asia's eighth busiest airport in terms of passengers, the world's fourth busiest airport by cargo traffic, and the world's ninth busiest airport in terms of international passengers in 2013. In that year, 40,785,953 international passengers used the airport.
The airport opened for business in early 2001 to replace the older Gimpo International Airport, which now serves mostly domestic destinations plus shuttle flights to alternate airports in China, Japan, and Taiwan.
Incheon International Airport is located west of Incheon's city center, on an artificially created piece of land between Yeongjong and Yongyu islands. The two islands were originally separated by shallow sea. That area between the two islands was reclaimed for the construction project, effectively connecting the once separate Yeongjong and Yongyu islands. The reclaimed area as well as the two islands are all part of Jung-gu, an administrative district of Incheon.
It is connected to the mainland by Incheon International Airport Expressway (Expressway 130), a part of which is Yeongjong Bridge. The expressway also connects Gimpo International Airport to provide connections between domestic flight service with international air traffic, an advantage that makes it much easier to travel from southern Korean regions to Incheon, and then to airports all over the globe. Incheon Bridge serves as the second path to the southern part of Incheon city from October 2009. The airport is served by frequent bus service from all parts of South Korea as well as by traditional ferry service between Yeongjong pier and Incheon. Airport limousines operate around the clock from Seoul to Incheon, and several backup highway buses escort people from places within and outside Seoul.
The Incheon International Airport Railroad connects Incheon International Airport to Seoul Station in downtown Seoul. Non-Stop Express trains 43 minutes, and regular trains which stops at all stations takes 53 minutes to Seoul Station.
The airport holds an unbreakable record of being ranked the Best Airport Worldwide for 7 consecutive years by the Airports Council International (ACI)'s Airport Service Quality award from year 2005 to 2011, and was also rated the world's best among airports of its size (25-40m) and region (Asia-Pacific) in year 2012 due to the institution's decision to discontinue the Best Airport Worldwide category.
Seoul Incheon International Airport's terminal has 76 boarding gates altogether, with 44 in the main terminal and 30 in Concourse A.
After the Seoul Olympics of 1988, international air traffic to Korea increased. In the 1990s, it became apparent that Gimpo International Airport could not cope with the increase in air traffic. To reduce the load on Gimpo International Airport, construction of the Incheon airport began in November 1992. It was constructed on reclaimed land between Yeongjong Island and Youngyu Island, and took eight years to construct, with an additional six months to test. The airport was officially opened in March 2001.
Initially, there were numerous problems, mostly involving baggage handling, which required the system to be operated semi-automatically. Most of the problems were fixed within a month, and the airport began to operate normally.
Air traffic increased markedly, and by early 2002, it became apparent that the airport would be saturated by 2006. As a result, the construction of the second phase was initiated in February 2002. Originally, the construction was supposed to have ended by December 2008. Due to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, however, the construction schedule was modified to allow the construction to end by July 2008.
On 15 November 2006, the Airbus A380 landed at the airport as part of the first leg of its certification trip. Tests on the runways, taxiways, and ramps showed that the airport could handle the aircraft.
To further upgrade service, Incheon and major Korean logistics firm Hanjin Corporation (parent company of the Korean Flag Carrier, Korean Air) agreed on 10 January 2008 to build a nine-story hospital near the airport. Once construction is complete in 2011, the Yeongjong Medical Centre is expected to serve nearby residents and some of Korea's annual 30,000 medical tourists.
The airport was originally planned to be built in three phases, incrementally increasing airport capacity as the demand grew. This was changed, however, to four phases after the airport was opened.
In Phase 1, the airport had a capacity of 30 million passengers per year, and a cargo capacity of 1.7 million metric tonnes yearly. In this phase, a passenger terminal with a floor space of Шаблон:Convert, two parallel runways, a control tower, an administrative building, a transportation centre (the Integrated Transportation Centre, designed by Terry Farrell & Partners and Samoo Architects & Engineers), and integrated operations centre, three cargo terminals, international business centre, and a government office building were constructed.
Phase 2 construction began in 2002, and was originally expected to be completed in December 2008. However, in an attempt to have the airport ready for the 2008 Beijing Olympics which took place in August 2008, the schedule was modified, and Phase 2 construction was completed on 20 June 2008. During this construction phase, a third parallel Шаблон:Convert long runway and a 13-hectare cargo terminal area were added. A 16.5 hectare concourse connected to the main passenger building via two parallel Шаблон:Convert long underground passageways was added, with a Mitsubishi Crystal Mover shuttle train APM shuttling passengers between the concourse and the main terminal.
With the completion, the airport has an annual capacity of 410,000 flights, 44,000,000 passengers, and nearly 4,500,000 metric tonnes of cargo. Many long distance foreign carriers were moved to the new concourse, with Korean Air and Asiana Airlines continuing to use the existing terminal. In addition, there were numerous equipment upgrades during the phase, including the newer and better ASDE-X with MRI (Multi Radar Tracking) function, and the ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) system with the RIMCAS (Runway Incursion Monitoring and Conflict Alert System) function. The installation of four additional sets of ASDE-X antennas is planned to reduce blind spots during heavy rainfall and in preparation for the new runway.
Plans to invest ₩4 trillion by 2017 to expand Incheon International Airport. The South Korean government plans to add a second passenger terminal in the northern field of the airport, and expand its existing cargo terminal and other infrastructure. The terminals will be connected with each other by the underground "Starline" train, which currently links the first terminal and the concourse. Upon completion, Incheon International Airport will be able to handle 62 million passengers and 5.8 million tonnes of cargo a year, up from the current capacity of 44 million passengers and 4.5 million tonnes. Construction began in 2011 with completion targeted for 2017. Plans for Incheon's expansion also include adding more aprons to park planes and extending a railway line to the city centre of Seoul about Шаблон:Convert away from the airport.
Estimated to be completed in 2020, this is the final and the ultimate construction stage. Upon completion, the airport will have two passenger terminals, four satellite concourses, 128 gates, and five parallel runways (one exclusively for cargo flights). It will be able to handle 100 million passengers and 7 million metric tonnes of cargo annually, with further possible expansions. The airport is projected to be transformed into one of the top ten busiest in the world by 2020.
Located at the center of the airport, the 22 story Control Tower is Шаблон:Convert tall and is illuminated 24 hours a day. On its highest floor is located a parabolic antenna that is used by the Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) to detect all airplanes and obstacles within Шаблон:Convert of the tower. The upper floors are used by ground and tower controllers, while the lower floors are mostly for support operations. The control tower has a total area of 179 square meters, making it the 3rd largest in the world as of 2001.
There are three parallel paved asphalt runways in operation, 15R/33L, 15L/33R and 16/34. Runway 15R/33L and 15L/33R are each Шаблон:Convert long, Шаблон:Convert wide, and Шаблон:Convert thick. Runway 16/34 is Шаблон:Convert long. Runway 15R/33L is used mostly for departures, while runway 15L/33R is used mostly for arrivals. This is evident from the amount of rubber present on each runway; runway 15L/33R has more rubber on it due to the higher number of landings. A third parallel runway (16/34), 4,000 meters long, began operation in June 2008. Landing and takeoffs of most passenger flights are done on the new runway and the existing runway 15R/33L, while runway 15L/33R is mostly used for cargo flights for its proximity with the cargo terminals. Although the runways are labelled 33 and 34, all three runways have the same heading. Once Phase 4 construction is complete, the airport will have 4 parallel runways, two of which will be 3,750 meters long, and the other two 4,000 meters long. All runways are equipped with ILS CAT IIIb at both sides to allow for operation in visibility conditions as low as 50 meters. As of the date of upgrade, Incheon International Airport was the only airport in Asia to have full ILS CAT IIIb capability. The runway lights at Incheon International Airport (as well as the taxi lights) are tied into special computers at the control tower. Air Traffic Controllers can provide progressive taxiing to an aircraft by setting the computer to manipulate the taxi and runway lights so that it will lead them to their designated gate or parking stand.
The main passenger terminal (measuring 594,000 square metres) is the largest airport terminal in area in South Korea. The passenger terminal was designed by Curtis W. Fentress, FAIA, RIBA of Fentress Architects. It is Шаблон:Convert long, Шаблон:Convert wide, and Шаблон:Convert high. Its construction cost was 1.3816 trillion South Korean Won.Шаблон:Citation needed The terminal has 44 boarding ports (all of which can accommodate the new Airbus A380), 50 customs inspection ports, 2 biological quarantine counters, 6 stationary and 14 portable passenger quarantine counters, 120 arrival passport inspection counters, 8 arrival security ports, 28 departure security ports, 252 check in counters, and 120 departure passport inspection counters.
The passenger concourse was completed at the end of May 2008, and all foreign airlines use this terminal as of 10 June 2008. It is connected to the Main Terminal by two parallel Шаблон:Convert long underground passageways equipped with IATs (Intra Airport Transit). It has 30 gates and six lounges (Asiana Airlines/Star Alliance, Singapore Airlines/Star Alliance, Cathay Pacific/Oneworld, Japan Airlines/Oneworld, Korean Air/SkyTeam, and China Eastern Airlines/SkyTeam).
There are currently over 90 airlines serving ICN. The largest carrier in terms of passenger numbers is Korean Air, followed by Asiana Airlines. Although all domestic flights depart from the main terminal, international gates are separated from the domestic gates. Passengers should note that even though non-Korean (foreign) carriers started to operate from concourse A on 10 June 2008, all check-in and immigration procedures are still conducted in the main passenger terminal.
Incheon Airport is a majorШаблон:Weasel-inline connecting point between China and North America; as of July 2013, Korean Air operates between Incheon and 22 cities in Mainland China, and Asiana Airlines operates between Incheon and 21 cities in Mainland China. There had been a lack of non-stop flights between many Chinese cities and the United States, and low prices and territorial disputes between Japan and China have caused many Chinese to transit via Incheon.
It also serves more Japanese airports than Japan's main international gateway, Narita International.
The Cargo Terminal Complex comprises six cargo terminals, five separate warehouses, All E/F Class 36 parking stands, and administration offices. Each cargo terminal is designed to provide each carrier with unique services, and a cargo warehouse – approximately Шаблон:Convert. They are separated into three areas: import, passing, and export. The logical manner in which the terminals were designed allow for a highly efficient operation. The cargo terminals also come with an advanced computer system that helps managers view individual package information, tracking information, storage information, etc. in real time. The terminals also feature various other high-tech technologies.
The Cargo Terminal Complex was designed to be able to process 1.7 million tons of cargo per year. However, due to the increased demands, the operators of Cargo A Terminal and Cargo B Terminal have opted to expand their facilities onto the land that is available nearby. As a result, the total processing ability of the complex is currently rated at 3.8 million tons per year. The C Terminal was unable to expand, however, due to the lack of direct airside access. Once Phase II expansion is complete, the airport will have a processing ability of around 4.9 million metric tons per year. This is because the expansion which was originally designed to allow an expansion to 4.5 million tons per year would be adding on top of the current processing ability, which includes the expansions by Korean Air Cargo and Asiana Cargo which were conducted separately on a piece of land that did not conflict with the airport expansion plans.
The Cargo Terminal Complex operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, nonstop. In addition, the automation systems had been upgraded. As a result, it is typical for the airport to output an extra 2 million tons per year processing capability than the original design.
Terminal A is operated by Korean Air Cargo. It is the largest cargo terminal by both size and capacity within the airport. It is able to process special types of cargo, such as those that require refrigeration or those that carry live animals. This facility had been expanded once on 2 March 2005 to allow for a total processing capability of 1.35 million tons per year. The terminal has an area of 60,000 square meters.
This cargo terminal is operated by Asiana Cargo. Although its capacity was to be expanded to 800,000 tons per year, the diminished demand for cargo transportation on Asiana originating from a pilot strike in 2005 has caused the plans to be modified. Currently, the terminals are capable of processing 750,000 tons per year. The terminal has an area of 40,000 square meters.
This cargo terminal is operated by the Incheon International Airport Foreign Carrier Cargo Terminal Company. Its users include FedEx, UPS, as well as other airlines. Due to its location, it could not expand its facilities, as with the other terminals, without conflicting with the existing plans for airport expansion. As a result, the IIAC is currently constructing a new terminal that would by operated by the IIAC Foreign Carrier Cargo Terminal Company. Once this new terminal is constructed, FedEx and UPS are expected to move into the new terminal, while other cargo operators are expected to use the existing terminal.
The terminal is Шаблон:Convert long, Шаблон:Convert wide, and Шаблон:Convert tall. Its first floor (warehouse) has a total area of 54,203.32 square meters, and other floors occupy 12,708.88 square meters. Its current total processing capability is 600,000 metrics tons per year. 51 different cargo companies use this complex.
This cargo terminal is operated by the Joint Company named AACT. Atlas Air Cargo and Sharp have a share. Its users include Polar Air Cargo, Qantas Freight, Finnair Cargo, as well as other airlines.
DHL Express owns and operates this gateway facilityШаблон:Clarify for its operations in Korea, Japan, and Far East Russia. This cargo terminal is four stories tall with modern facilities.
Passenger volume | Change over previous year | Aircraft operations | Cargo tonnage | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | 14,542,290 | 86,807 | 1,186,015 | |
2002 | 20,924,171 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:043.9% | 126,094 | 1,705,928 |
2003 | 19,789,874 | Шаблон:DecreaseШаблон:05.4% | 130,185 | 1,843,055 |
2004 | 24,084,072 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:021.7% | 149,776 | 2,133,444 |
2005 | 26,051,466 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:08.2% | 160,843 | 2,150,139 |
2006 | 28,191,116 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:08.2% | 182,007 | 2,336,571 |
2007 | 31,227,897 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:010.8% | 211,404 | 2,555,580 |
2008 | 29,973,522 | Шаблон:DecreaseШаблон:04.0% | 211,102 | 2,423,717 |
2009 | 28,549,770 | Шаблон:DecreaseШаблон:04.8% | 198,918 | 2,313,002 |
2010 | 33,478,925 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:017.3% | 214,835 | 2,684,499 |
2011 | 35,062,366 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:04.7% | 229,580 | 2,539,222 |
2012 | 38,970,864 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:011.1% | 254,037 | 2,456,724 |
2013 | 41,482,828 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:06.4% | 271,224 | 2,464,385 |
2014 | 45,512,099 | Шаблон:IncreaseШаблон:09.7% | 290,043 | 2,557,681 |
Source: IIAC Airport Statistics |
In 2012, the ten carriers with the largest percentage of passengers flying into, out of, or through Incheon are as follows:
Top Carriers (2012)Rank | Carrier | Domestic Passengers |
International Passengers |
Total | % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Korean Air | 419,929 | 14,058,318 | 14,478,247 | 37.15% |
2 | Asiana Airlines | 191,024 | 9,602,680 | 9,793,704 | 25.13% |
3 | China Southern Airlines | 1,158,424 | 1,158,424 | 2.97% | |
4 | Cathay Pacific | 1,046,374 | 1,046,374 | 2.69% | |
5 | China Eastern Airlines | 977,691 | 977,691 | 2.51% | |
6 | Thai Airways International | 855,970 | 855,970 | 2.20% | |
7 | Jeju Air | 1,996 | 790,976 | 792,972 | 2.03% |
8 | Air China | 753,201 | 753,201 | 1.93% | |
9 | Jin Air | 117 | 654,555 | 654,672 | 1.68% |
10 | Singapore Airlines | 598,304 | 598,304 | 1.54% |
Incheon International airport has won numerous awards since its opening, including:
Year | Award | Category | Results | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Airport Service Quality Awards by Airports Council International |
Best Airport Worldwide | Шаблон:Won | |
Best Airport in Asia-Pacific | Шаблон:Won | |||
Best Airport by Size (25–40 million passenger) | Шаблон:Won | |||
2010 | Best Airport Worldwide | Шаблон:Won | ||
2011 | Шаблон:Won | . |
Airport buses are called limousine buses, and are available outside the arrival areas on the first floor. For standard limousine buses travel to Gimpo Airport & Songjeong Station costs around 5,000 won, while the fare for most routes to downtown Seoul is 9,000 - 10,000 won. Deluxe buses are express buses with wider seats costing 7,000 won to Gimpo and 14,000 - 15,000 won to most parts of Seoul.