Airport Facility Usage Fee Reduction Extended for 6 Months "Additional 58 Billion KRW Reduction"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The reduction of airport facility usage fees for airlines and ground handling companies will be extended for an additional six months until the end of this year.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Incheon International Airport Corporation, and Korea Airports Corporation announced that they will extend the reduction of airport facility usage fees for six more months to support airlines and ground handling companies facing ongoing difficulties due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19.

Previously, the government, in cooperation with related ministries, announced nine rounds of reduction and deferment measures for commercial facility rents and airport facility usage fees to minimize the damage to the aviation industry caused by COVID-19.

Through these measures, from March last year to this month, the support provided to the aviation sector includes reductions of 122.3 billion KRW for aviation-related fees (such as airport facility usage fees), 1.2555 trillion KRW for commercial sectors (such as duty-free shop rents), 60.4 billion KRW for other facility rents, and 419.4 billion KRW in payment deferrals, totaling over 1.85 trillion KRW.

International passengers, accounting for about 62.4% of airline revenue, remain in a near suspension of operations due to entry restrictions imposed by countries worldwide (a 97.6% decrease compared to 2019 as of April). In particular, low-cost carriers (LCCs) face difficulties expanding cargo transport (due to lack of cargo aircraft) and have a low proportion of domestic revenue, making recovery insufficient. Without additional government support, maintaining the aviation industry's ecosystem, including employment stability for workers, is challenging.

Accordingly, the government, Incheon International Airport Corporation, and Korea Airports Corporation have prepared and implemented additional support measures considering the uncertain recovery outlook of COVID-19 and the difficult management conditions in the aviation industry.

With the extension of the airport facility usage fee reduction period by six months until the end of December this year, an additional reduction of approximately 58 billion KRW will be applied. Including the existing support amounts, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport estimates a total reduction effect of 180.3 billion KRW in airport facility usage fees.

Yoon Jin-hwan, Director of Aviation Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, “Considering the difficulty of a significant resumption of international flights in the near term and that commercial facility rent reductions are only valid until the end of this year, we plan to proactively provide support to overcome the aviation industry's crisis caused by COVID-19.” He emphasized, “Along with direct support such as airport facility usage fee reductions, we will actively explore and promote various alternatives possible under the COVID-19 situation, such as international sightseeing flights and travel bubbles.”

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