Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Halts Gimhae New Airport Project... Gadeokdo New Airport Promotion Accelerates

Promotion Accelerates at Cabinet Meeting on the 30th... Preliminary Feasibility Study and Implementation System Overhaul

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the ‘Gadeokdo New Airport Act Follow-up Action Plan’ (hereinafter referred to as the Follow-up Action Plan) was discussed at the Cabinet meeting on the 30th. Accordingly, the existing Gimhae New Airport project will be officially halted, and the Gadeokdo New Airport project will be accelerated.

The main content of the Follow-up Action Plan is to immediately suspend all work related to the establishment of the ‘Gimhae New Airport Basic Plan’ and terminate the pending ‘Gimhae New Airport Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment Service’.

Along with this, as the Southeast region new airport plan is replaced by the Gadeokdo New Airport, related contents will be reflected in the ‘6th Comprehensive Airport Development Plan’ (’21?’25).

Subsequently, the ‘Gadeokdo New Airport Preliminary Feasibility Study’ will commence, and the service contract is scheduled to be issued by May.

The service will review facility scale and layout, constructability, financing, construction period estimation and reduction plans through air traffic demand forecasting. Additionally, for key issues such as differential settlement and aviation safety, detailed analyses including ground safety analysis and flight route simulation will be conducted to reach conclusions.

Since the legal site is designated as ‘the Gadeokdo area,’ the site selection process will be omitted, allowing the project to proceed swiftly over 10 months, with a project promotion plan to be prepared by March next year.

Furthermore, upon commencement of the study, an advisory group composed of experts in various fields such as demand and logistics, aviation and maritime safety, ground, environment and noise, and airport construction and operation will be formed to provide field-specific advice on the major outcomes, thereby establishing an objective and rational project promotion plan.

Also, a ‘New Airport Construction Promotion Team’ will be formed and operated. The currently operating dedicated task force (TF) will be expanded and reorganized into a regular organization, the ‘New Airport Construction Promotion Team,’ in line with the law enforcement date (September 17).

In addition, the revision of subordinate laws and regulations will be carried out without delay.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Byeon Chang-heum said, "It is significant that the government has officially started the project procedures for promoting the Gadeokdo New Airport," and added, "We will provide all possible support for the successful construction of the Gadeokdo New Airport."

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