President Chung Chang-soo of the Incheon Int’l Airport Corp.(IIAC) speaks at the ACI ASQ 

Award presentation ceremony held in Istanbul, Turkey on June 11.(photo courtesy of IIAC)

  President Chung Chang-soo of the Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) said the airport will continue to keep the top honor as an eco-friendly and clean environmental airport following the capture of the top airport award in the Asia-Pacific region at the Airports Council International (ACI) ASQ Award Presentation ceremony held at the Kampinski Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 11. Incheon International Airport won the award for an eighth consecutive year this year by beating such rival airports as Beijing Airport in China and Changi Airport in Singapore by scoring 4.95 points out of 5 in the airport service qualification (ASQ) review conducted by the ACI. There are 1,700 airports in the world and Incheon Airport is the only airport that won the award so many times. 

The airport also won the top airport award in the Asia-Pacific region and was also named top among mid-to-large sized airports with the capacity to handle from 2.5 million to 40 million passengers annually following intense competition for the awards. Gimpo International Airport also won the top award among airports handling from 15 million to 25 million passengers annually to join Incheon Airport in boosting Korea’s reputation.

The president said winning the award for eight years in a row is a huge achievement for Incheon Airport, which should give the Korean people great pride. Chung, who took over the top executive office of the airport on June 4, said he will make sure that the airport continues to win the honor as it prepares for its operation strategy for the next 20 years.

Chung continued to say, “We should keep our guards up, as rival airports have been making great efforts to catch up with us, and strengthen our competitive power to step up as an eco and green airport while at the same time providing the same traditional services to continue to be a top airport in the world.”

The CEO’s strategy is to make Incheon Airport a top environmentally friendly airport, with rival airports such as Changi Airport in Singapore and Beijing Airport closing in.

Incheon Airport will invest 2.5 trillion won this year to build the second passenger terminal, the third airport expansion project. Chung said the airport will have to expand its non-airport earnings to meet the funding requirement to undertake the project.

He plans to increase the airport’s total annual earnings to more than 2 trillion won by increasing earnings at its international business complex, although details have yet to be worked out.

He said he is neutral as far as the opening of a casino at the international business complex at the airport, as it is up to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

According to casino sources, Lipo and Caesar applied for a license to build a casino resort inside the complex in January and Universal Entertainment did likewise the following month, but there is no word yet from the ministry on its decision regarding the applications.

With regard to the sale of stakes in the airport, Chung said he will act based on the agreement on the moves made by both ruling and opposition camps and the reform of the related laws and regulations.

Incheon Airport will host the 2014 ACI General Assembly at COEX convention center in Seoul from May 26-28 next year.

As host of the General Assembly, Incheon Airport will organize meetings and conferences for committees covering various topics of aviation safety, security, environment, education, training, and more, as well as for the ACI World Governing Board and ACI Fund meeting to ensure active exchanges and cooperative activities among the approximately 600 participants from airports, airlines, and international organizations from around the world.

Also, the IIAC plans to hold an airport industry exhibition and global business partners meeting during the General Assembly, hoping to maximize the economic impact of the airport industry, which is continuously growing, and create added value.Incheon Airport has taken the first step toward a successful hosting of the event by running a booth specifically set up to raise awareness of the 2014 ACI General Assembly at the ACI General Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey.