President Park Wan-soo of the Incheon Int’l Airport Corp., shakes hands with Chairman Kevin Brown of Mohegan Sun of the United States after signing an MOU on the construction of a resort, hotel and entertainment facilities in the land near the airport on Yongjong Island, Korea, on April 30, 2015, with an estimated total investment of 5 trillion won.(Photo:IIAC)

The government aims to make Incheon International Airport one of the five busiest airports in the world, in terms of international passenger traffic, and one of the world’s top 10 transfer airports by 2020.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Incheon International Airport Corporation recently unveiled plans to boost services by expanding the airport’s infrastructure to meet its goals.

Since opening in 2001, Incheon International Airport has grown to be the world’s number two airport in terms of managing international cargo and the world’s number eight airport in the traffic of international passengers.

However, the airport’s weaknesses have recently surfaced, including long lines before departure and upon arrival, as demand for air travel has surged. Delays in handling luggage have also been regarded as a downside.

With competitors in neighboring countries, the number of passengers transferring through Incheon International Airport slipped nearly six percent in 2014 after having posted annual growth of nearly eleven percent up until 2013.

The ministry and the airport corporation will seek to steadily liberalize air transport with China and expand direct flights to and from India in an effort to meet air travel demand from China and India. 

They also plan to expand the number of airlines flying into and out of Incheon International Airport from the current 186 to 210 by 2020.

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority ("MTGA" or the "Authority") operator of Mohegan Sun, Mohegan Sun Pocono and Resorts Casino Hotel, and Incheon International Airport Corporation ("IIAC") on April 22 announced that they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop, build and operate a first-of-its-kind gateway entertainment city in South Korea. The integrated hotel-casino resort will feature world-class entertainment and hospitality attractions, as well as the only casino-resort anywhere connected to a fixed-base private aviation operation (FBO). The proposed resort would be developed on the grounds of Incheon International Airport, the 8th largest international airport in the world, which serves more than 45 million annual visitors.

According to the terms of the MOU, the Authority and IIAC will enter into exclusive negotiations on a conceptual agreement for developing an 800-acre parcel of land owned by IIAC into a world-class, integrated entertainment destination. The MOU outlines a framework for a conceptual agreement on the project, with the goal of signing a finalized concept agreement by June 30, 2015 and a scope of work proposal by the end of the year. Upon its completion, the integrated hotel-casino resort will cement Incheon Airport's position as one of the best airports in the world and create an epicenter for Korea's growing entertainment, tourism and hospitality industry.

President and CEO of Incheon International Airport Corporation, Park Wan-su, said: "This project is an important step in Incheon Airport's continued efforts to become a global mega-hub airport, delivering passengers the highest quality service and serving as the best airport in the world in all aspects of our operations. It was critical to identify the right partner for this historic development and Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority's performance track record as a developer, operator and ability to attract world-class entertainers speaks for itself. We look forward to working with MTGA to finalize an agreement on the proposed project and further enhancing Incheon's services with the support and collaboration of our 40,000 employees.

Korea is strategically located between China and Japan. The number of outbound Chinese tourists is projected to total around 100 million by 2020. The three-stage expansion project for Incheon Int'l airport has been a timely enterprise to boost Korea’s competitive power in the areas of tourism business and service.

Incheon Int'l Airport’s “hub airport of the Asia-Pacific” goal will provide a big help to improving Korea’s national competitive power by creating new growth engines through fusion among industries under the Creative Economy Drive, which is being pushed by the government.