Inchon International Airport encounters problems

The Inchon International Airport grand opening is looming over March 29.

This airport was built on land recovered from the sea between Youngjong-do, 3km away from the western end of Inchon, and nearby Yongyou-do. In its first year, Inchon International Airport will impose a $2,800 turnaround charge for planes, much lower than any other nearby new airports such as Kansai International Airport in Japan ($8,844), Hong Kong's new airport in Chek Lap Kok ($5,063), or Pu Dong Airport in Shanghai, China ($5,807).

Turnaround charges cover all fees from plane arrival on the runway and 2 hours of airport usage, to departure. This includes landing fees, lighting fees, noise fees, staying fees, and boarding bridge usage fees.

This low charge results from the sales strategy to lure foreign international airliners in the beginning, as well as demands from the IATA (International Air Transportation Association). In addition, Inchon spent less money on construction of the airport than other competitive airports did. Apart from Pu Dong Airport in Shanghai, China, Kansai International Airport in Japan cost $13.9 billion, while Hong Kong's new airport in Chek Lap Kok cost $12 billion, more than twice Inchon's $4.9 billion.

Inchon still faces several other problems.

To use Inchon International Airport, importers and exporters as well as forwarders will have to pay expensive carrying fees. Breaking those costs down, round trip airport highway tolls will cost 12,000 won, airport usage fees, 13,000 won, exit taxes, 9,000 won, plus some additional charges of between 60,000 and 70,000 won. All tolled, these fees are at least twice as much as at Kimpo International Airport.

Also, neither the second Younyook-gyo (bridge) nor the new railway (both planned for construction this year and scheduled for launch using private capital) offer much possibility of lowering fees, even if both are completed.

As the new airport highway offers the only way to get to Inchon International Airport, car accidents or traffic jams will cause serious problems for scheduling. These problems should lessen by the year 2005 or 2007, when the first stage of the airport railway project from Inchon International Airport to Kimpo International Airport (38.7km) is completed, or the second stage (Inchon International Airport-Kimpo International Airport-Seoul Station, 61.5 km) is finished, experts predicted.

The money being thrown into Inchon International Airport amounts to 5.98 trillion won as of the end of January, excepting the money for the airport highway construction. Among them, the government invested 2.52 trillion won, with 62 percent being from domestic financial agencies and foreign funds (3.46 trillion won), bringing interest charges on private funds in the first year to 340 billion won. Inchon International Airport estimates losses at 280 billion won for the first operating year.

On a different note, environmental changes to the area may cause heavy fog at times, further exacerbating problems for the new airport.