Gimhae New Airport Virtually Canceled... Momentum Builds for Gaduk New Airport (Comprehensive 2)

Verification Committee "Fundamental Review Needed... Difficult to Respond to Future Changes"

Kim Su-sam, Chair of the Gimhae New Airport Verification Committee, is announcing the verification results of Gimhae New Airport at the Government Seoul Office Building on the afternoon of the 17th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] The Verification Committee for Gimhae New Airport under the Prime Minister's Office announced on the 17th that "the promotion of Gimhae New Airport requires fundamental reconsideration." This means the 'cancellation' of the Gimhae New Airport plan.

At a press conference on the verification results of the 'Gimhae New Airport Basic Plan' held at the Government Seoul Office Building on the afternoon of the same day, the committee stated, "The basic plan for Gimhae New Airport requires significant supplementation in terms of safety, facility operation and demand, environment, and noise, and it is difficult to respond to future changes such as expansion."

The committee pointed out that regarding safety, facility operation and demand, environment, and noise, "During the verification process, issues that were not sufficiently reviewed at the time of project confirmation were identified, such as the need to supplement flight procedures, the necessity of early installation of the western taxiway, limitations on expansion to prepare for future demand changes, and the expansion of noise range."

They further judged, "Due to the nature of an international airport, the basic plan has limitations in terms of the capacity to respond to various future environmental changes, making it very tight."

The committee also criticized, "According to the interpretation by the Ministry of Government Legislation, obstacles exceeding the height of the approach surfaces such as Gyeongunsan, Obongsan, and Imhosan must be cut during the planning stage, but this was not considered, resulting in an error that ultimately violates the intent of the law."

They added, "Assuming the cutting of mountains, a fundamental review is needed regarding the project schedule, whether the obstructing mountain obstacles can be physically and environmentally cut, and whether the allowable cost range is exceeded."

The committee concluded, "The Gimhae New Airport plan requires significant supplementation and is difficult to respond to future changes such as expansion. Furthermore, considering the interpretation that the project must proceed on the premise of removing mountains exceeding the obstacle limitation surface height if the consent of local governments is not confirmed, the promotion of Gimhae New Airport as the gateway airport of the southeastern region requires fundamental reconsideration."

The committee was officially launched on December 6 of the same year after Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam local governments and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requested verification of the appropriateness of Gimhae New Airport as the 'gateway airport of the southeastern region' to the Prime Minister's Office in June last year and agreed to abide by the results.

Accordingly, the committee divided the issues raised by Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam into four areas: safety, noise, facility operation and demand, and environment, and conducted verification work on 11 issues and 22 detailed items.

In this process, they made every effort for objective and scientific verification, including on-site investigations, expert consultations, and requesting authoritative interpretations from related organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Ministry of Government Legislation for some issues.

The committee asked, "While some may feel disappointed with the verification results, we hope the government, Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam, and the public will respect the results reached after intense discussions and reviews since December last year."

This announcement strengthens the view that it will be difficult for the government to stick to the Gimhae New Airport plan. In particular, as Busan strongly advocates for the construction of Gadeokdo New Airport instead of Gimhae New Airport, it is expected that Gimhae New Airport will effectively be canceled and support will shift to Gadeokdo New Airport.

In this regard, there are expectations within the government and political circles that the construction of Gadeokdo New Airport may be promptly pursued due to political reasons such as the upcoming Busan mayoral by-election next year. In fact, political circles are treating the construction of Gadeokdo New Airport as a foregone conclusion.

However, Gadeokdo New Airport is likely to remain a source of controversy as a political decision ignoring economic logic. The government and ruling party are currently facing criticism for reversing a national project that has been dragged on for four years due to political interests related to next year's Busan mayoral by-election. In fact, in the 'Yeongnam Region New Airport Candidate Site Evaluation' conducted by France's Paris Airport Engineering (ADPi) in 2016, the Gimhae Airport expansion plan was overwhelmingly ranked first. Gadeokdo was rated the lowest, even behind Miryang.

At that time, ADPi evaluated Gadeokdo as "not only costly but also difficult to construct" and "unsuitable as a natural airport location." Gadeokdo was also eliminated in the government's 2011 Yeongnam Region New Airport site selection because its cost-benefit (B/C) ratio did not meet the project feasibility criterion of 1.0.

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, said, "It seems they are trying to force a change to gain any advantage ahead of next year's Busan mayoral by-election," and called for an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection.

An aviation industry expert said, "Even the gateway airport of the Yeongnam region should not be swayed by elections," and added, "The government should look to the future and make decisions based on strict evaluation criteria."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.