President Koo Bon-hwan of Incheon International Airport Corp.

Incheon International Airport Corp., which spearheaded the opening of the airport, celebrated the 20th anniversary of its establishment on Jan. 31.

The annual number of passengers who used the first and second terminals of Incheon International Airport stood at some 86.25 million last year, the 17th anniversary of opening of the airport. International passengers rose to 67.67 million, ranking fifth in the world, provisional figures showed.

Under the stewardship of President Koo Bon-hwan, IIAC strives to make Incheon International Airport an unmatched global airport. President Koo said in a recent interview, “Incheon International Airport will no longer retain the global No. 1 position through the old-fashioned methods as the global aviation industry is entering an era in which juggernauts have sprung up.”

Incheon International Airport is showing signs of stagnation as the airport’s transit rate stood at 11.7 percent, its transshipment rate amounted to 39.4 percent, and 84 airlines opened routes. President Koo issued warnings about a potential competitor in Beijing Daxing International Airport, to be opened in the second half of this year, and other rival airports such as those in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

“Incheon International Airport has evolved from the G1 airport of handling transportation into the G2 airport of developing its surrounding area to become a global top-tier airport, and Incheon International Airport has to be reshaped into a G3 airport serving as an economic activity center to rise to a global leading airport,” he said.

With the ensuring of safety as the foremost task, he said Incheon International Airport should devote itself to achieving the goal of building an airport economy sphere as a new growth engine. He envisages the projected airport economy sphere encompassing Yeongjong, its neighborhood Songdo and Ganghwa Island, as Korea’s representative center of business, advanced industry, aviation support, logistics and tourism.

While delivering a speech at his inauguration ceremony as the eighth IIAC president at the airport on April 16, President Koo revealed the plan to develop Incheon International Airport into a G3 airport contributing to aviation, tourism, logistics and convergence economy by building an Incheon International Airport economic sphere covering Yeongjong Island, Songdo and Gangwha Island.

Koo had been with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) for 28 years after he passed the 33rd higher administrative service examination. He held positions such as director in charge of international aviation, head of the Seoul District Aviation Office, director-general in charge of aviation policy and deputy minister of aviation policy.

He had been credited with implementing major policies as Korea’s becoming a member of the board of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), expanding of flight routs through aviation talks and revamping traffic rights, and nurturing of new growth engines such as the drone industry, contributing to the development of the Korean aviation industry.

He had been praised for successfully carrying out major projects such as the opening of the 2nd terminal of Incheon International Airport, the establishment of the master plan for the 4th construction plan of the airport, and changing non-regular employees of the airport into regular staff members while servicing as director-general in charge of aviation policy and deputy minister in charge of aviation policy.

A view of Incheon International Airport’s Terminal 2. (Photos: IIAC)