[The Editors' Verdict] The Intensifying Debate Over Incheon-Gimpo Airport Integration

Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 Photo by Incheon International Airport Corporation

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The integration of Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport is rapidly emerging as a prominent issue. The "Incheon-Gimpo Airport Integrated Capital Region Promotion Team," consisting of resident groups from Incheon, Seoul, and Gyeonggi areas as well as local council members, recently held its launching ceremony in Incheon, marking the start of its full-scale activities. The team has also set a goal to have the integration of Incheon and Gimpo airports reflected in next year's presidential election pledges.

The promotion team expects that if the two airports are integrated, Incheon Airport can strengthen its international competitiveness as a Northeast Asia hub airport and accelerate the promotion of the airport economic zone, while Gimpo Airport can create new growth engines for the capital region by utilizing the relocated site. In the same vein, the Seoul Metropolitan Council, Yangcheon District Council, and Incheon Metropolitan Council have been discussing the integration of the two airports, and Park Yongjin, a former Democratic Party presidential candidate, announced a pledge to revitalize Cheongju Airport through the integration of Incheon and Gimpo airports.

As public debate heats up over whether maintaining two international airports in the capital region as they are or integrating them would better promote the aviation industry and regional development, this issue is presenting a new challenge to the government's aviation policy.

Since international flights resumed at Gimpo Airport in 2003, two international airports have been operating within a radius of just 33 km in the capital region. Due to the increase in routes at Gimpo Airport, noise complaints from surrounding areas have risen, leading to increased social costs. While some residents near the airport find Gimpo Airport more convenient than the more distant Incheon Airport, the dominant sentiment in the four Seoul districts affected by airport noise (Geumcheon, Guro, Yangcheon, Gangseo) and Gyeonggi’s Gimpo and Bucheon is in favor of relocating Gimpo Airport.

There is great expectation that relocating Gimpo Airport, which is located in the city center, would simultaneously resolve issues such as noise, air pollution, traffic congestion, and height restrictions. Additionally, a positive scenario that supplying 200,000 housing units on the relocated Gimpo Airport site would contribute to stabilizing the capital region’s real estate market is also bolstering support for the Incheon-Gimpo Airport integration theory.

What about Incheon Airport? Although it has experienced rapid growth since its opening in 2001, growth is expected to slow to less than 2% annually until 2050. According to last month’s 6th Comprehensive Airport Development Plan by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the construction of new airports in Gadukdo, Daegu-Gyeongbuk region, Saemangeum, and southern Gyeonggi is expected to reduce aviation demand. For this reason, voices are emerging that, considering the dispersed aviation demand, Incheon Airport’s demand should be secured by integrating it with Gimpo Airport.

Furthermore, if the two airports integrate and Incheon Airport’s passenger volume increases with related aviation industries clustering, transportation infrastructure such as KTX, the second airport railroad, the Metropolitan Express Railroad (GTX) Line D, the 4th connecting bridge linking Gimpo, and direct connections between Seoul Subway Line 9 and the Airport Railroad will be expanded, activating the airport economic zone. It is also expected that the deficits of Incheon Airport Expressway, Incheon Bridge, and the Airport Railroad, which have been subsidized by taxes, can be resolved.

Of course, there are skeptical views on the integration of Incheon and Gimpo airports. Some oppose relocation, arguing that facilities and investments should rather be increased to utilize Gimpo Airport as an urban aviation hub and future growth engine. Among Yeongjongdo residents, opinions are divided, with concerns that operating domestic flights at Incheon Airport would increase aircraft takeoffs and landings, thereby increasing noise pollution in the airport new town. The recent rejection of the "Resolution to Urge the Promotion of Incheon-Gimpo Airport Integration" by the Incheon Metropolitan Council’s Construction and Transportation Committee is interpreted as reflecting this atmosphere.

Since the integration of Incheon and Gimpo airports requires a major overhaul of the government’s airport development plans and aviation policies, a thorough public discussion process involving civil society, local governments, and the government is necessary over sufficient time. For Incheon City, which has identified the aviation industry as a core future growth sector alongside bio industries, it seems particularly necessary to approach the Incheon-Gimpo Airport integration discussion in connection with plans to establish the Incheon Airport economic zone.