Mayor Oh Se-hoon Visits ICAO to Urgently Propose Easing Height Restrictions Around Gimpo Airport

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has urged the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to promptly revise the international standards related to aviation altitude restrictions. Residents around Gimpo Airport have long faced limitations on exercising their property rights due to these altitude restrictions.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is taking a commemorative photo after meeting with Salvatore Sciacchitano, President of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), on the 17th (local time).
[Photo by Seoul City]

While on a business trip to North America, Mayor Oh visited the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada, on the 17th (local time) and conveyed this matter during a meeting with Salvatore Sciacchitano, Chairman of the ICAO Council.

ICAO is a specialized UN agency established in 1947 after World War II to develop and promote international civil aviation technology, transportation, and facilities. South Korea joined ICAO in December 1952 and has been continuously participating as a council member since first being selected in 2001.

Chairman Sciacchitano explained that ICAO is currently conducting safety evaluations and research on easing altitude restrictions to revise the outdated aviation regulations established in 1951 and still in effect. They plan to collect opinions from member states by the end of next month. Considering technical circumstances, the revised regulations are expected to be approved by the council in 2025 and implemented in 2028.

During the meeting, Mayor Oh requested efforts to ensure that the revision of regulations is not delayed, emphasizing that many citizens living in the affected areas have been facing difficulties due to the long-standing application of the same aviation regulations despite urban development.

Currently, autonomous districts adjacent to the airport, such as Gangseo-gu and Yangcheon-gu (approximately 80㎢, 13.2% of Seoul’s area), have faced building height restrictions due to altitude limits around Gimpo Airport since its opening in 1958. This has imposed significant constraints on residents’ property rights. As a result, despite being a major gateway area of Seoul, urban development has been relatively slow, leading to a concentration of outdated residential forms within the region.

Although the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Seoul City have made efforts to resolve these issues, actual changes to the altitude restriction zones around Gimpo Airport and exceptional adjustments based on aeronautical considerations require prior changes to international standards, limiting their ability to respond effectively.

However, with ICAO recently pushing for a comprehensive revision of international standards related to aviation altitude restrictions, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Seoul City are actively preparing to respond by establishing detailed guidelines and conducting aeronautical reviews in line with the planned revision implementation in November 2028.

Currently, ICAO has prepared a draft revision through internal procedures including expert consultations and review by the Air Navigation Commission in May this year, and is collecting feedback from member states, including South Korea, until October. The main points of this revision include a complete overhaul of the altitude restriction standards (Obstacle Limitation Surfaces, OLS) and the establishment of core procedures for aeronautical reviews to consider exceptional obstacle installations.

Since 2015, ICAO has set up a dedicated task force to discuss revisions to altitude restriction international standards to balance airport safety and surrounding development. This ICAO international standard revision represents the most significant change in about 70 years since the first edition was published in 1951.

According to the revision, the existing strict and uniform regulation of obstacle creation such as buildings for safe aircraft operation, known as the Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS), will be relaxed and divided into Prohibited Surfaces (OFS) and Evaluated Surfaces (OES). In particular, the Prohibited Surfaces will be reduced compared to the current standards, and the Evaluated Surfaces will grant autonomy to the respective countries, reflecting reasonable criteria that consider changing times.

As the ICAO international standard revision becomes increasingly visible, not only the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the aviation authority, but also Seoul City’s role in the planned management of heights around Gimpo Airport is newly required. The city plans to work closely with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport after the ICAO revision to develop measures to ease altitude restrictions around Gimpo Airport.

To this end, the city will establish a dedicated team within the Urban Planning Bureau to thoroughly review the ICAO international standard revision draft, promptly request revisions, coordinate opinions with related organizations such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Gangseo District Office, and formulate a master plan for the Gimpo Airport area, thereby initiating full-scale responses.

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