Early Next Year, "Integrated Korean Air" to Complete Move to T2
Airport Usage Fee Needs to Rise to 30,000-40,000 Won
100MW Hyperscale AI Data Center to Be Built
Asiana Airlines, which is set to merge with Korean Air, will relocate to Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport before the Lunar New Year holiday next year. There was also an opinion that airport usage fees should be doubled in order to restore profitability to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
Lee Hakjae, president of Incheon International Airport Corporation, stated at a press conference held at Incheon International Airport Corporation on the 17th, "We expect Incheon Airport to be very crowded during next year's Lunar New Year holiday, but Asiana Airlines decided on July 15 to move to T2 in mid-January next year, before the holiday."
Previously, the corporation completed the fourth phase of T2 expansion last year, securing an additional 75 aircraft stands at Terminal 2?62 for passenger aircraft and 13 for cargo aircraft. However, due to the delayed relocation of Asiana Airlines, 71 of these stands remain unused. The resulting operational losses are estimated to reach approximately 600 million won per day. Lee said, "Even though we completed the fourth phase of expansion, we have incurred significant opportunity costs because we have not been able to operate the new facilities," adding, "We expect that the relocation of Asiana Airlines early next year will alleviate congestion at T1."
With the relocation of Asiana Airlines, the "integrated Korean Air" will be consolidated at T2. Air Busan, a low-cost carrier affiliated with Asiana Airlines, will move to T2 on July 29, and Air Seoul has finalized its relocation date for September 9. Currently, nine airlines operate at T2: Korean Air, Jin Air, Air France, Delta Air Lines, KLM, China Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Xiamen Airlines, and Aeromexico. Once the relocations of Asiana Airlines, Air Busan, and Air Seoul are complete, the total number of airlines using T2 will increase to twelve.
Lee Hakjae, president of Incheon International Airport Corporation, is speaking at a press conference held at Incheon International Airport Corporation on the 17th. Photo by Jeon Youngju
On this day, Lee also mentioned increasing airport usage fees as a measure to secure profitability for Incheon Airport. He said, "The facility usage fee at Incheon Airport is 17,000 won per person and has not increased at all in 20 years," adding, "The airport usage fee at Heathrow Airport in the UK is 93,000 won, which is more than five times higher than Incheon, and even Narita Airport in Japan, which is similar to us, charges over 30,000 won." He continued, "To achieve profit levels comparable to 2019, the airport usage fee would need to be raised to 30,000 to 40,000 won." Although Incheon Airport recorded its highest-ever passenger traffic in the first half of this year, with 36.36 million passengers and 207,959 flights since its opening, operating profit fell by 31% from 654.6 billion won in the first half of 2019 to 450.4 billion won in the first half of this year. During the same period, net profit declined by 30% from 339.8 billion won to 235.5 billion won.
With his term set to expire in June next year, Lee plans to actively promote initiatives so that Incheon Airport can function as Korea's Silicon Valley during his remaining tenure. Lee said, "We will establish a 100-megawatt-class hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) data center at Incheon Airport to attract AI experts from both major US tech companies and domestic startups," adding, "We plan to select a private company to carry out the AI data center project through a public bid as early as the end of this month."
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