Yoon Hyung-jung, President of Korea Airports Corporation, "New Long-Haul Routes to Warsaw and the Americas from Gimhae Airport"

"Fast Track and More to Be Introduced at Gimpo Airport in the First Half"
"We Will Open the Era of 1 Trillion Won in Sales"

Yoon Hyung-jung, President of Korea Airports Corporation, has designated next year as the first year of turning a profit and achieving complete business normalization. Additionally, the corporation plans to strengthen the core functions of airports and secure future growth engines through business structure and organizational innovation.

The corporation’s primary goal is to achieve a total passenger count of 90 million next year, including 20 million international passengers. This figure surpasses the 86.66 million passengers recorded in 2019. By the end of this year, the number of international passengers at the seven international airports operated by the corporation is expected to recover to 12.8 million, which is 63% of the 20.33 million passengers in 2019.

Yoon Hyung-jung, President of Korea Airports Corporation, is speaking at the regular press conference held at the Korea Airports Corporation headquarters on the 21st.
[Photo by Korea Airports Corporation]

To this end, the corporation has developed activation plans for each airport. To transform Gimpo Airport into a business-friendly airport, it aims to revitalize the “Seoul-Osaka-Shanghai” routes. At Gimhae Airport, it plans to establish long-haul routes such as Warsaw, Poland, and Los Angeles, USA, to make it a hub airport in the southeastern region. Jeju Airport will promote the establishment of new routes to Japan and Taiwan to expand inbound passenger demand (passengers entering Korea from overseas). Daegu, Cheongju, and Muan Airports plan to attract Chinese passengers, whose recovery rate is low, by encouraging airlines holding traffic rights to operate flights.

Building on the recovery of international passengers next year, the corporation expects to achieve sales of 1 trillion won for the first time since its establishment. It will also increase rental income by developing differentiated commercial facilities at each airport and expanding pop-up stores. Regarding airport facility usage fees, the corporation plans to gradually adjust them to reflect price stabilization trends and reinvest in airport facilities.

Of the 314.7 billion won capital budget for next year, the corporation will allocate 78.8 billion won for building the Gimpo Airport “Biz+Port” (business-friendly airport) and implementing smart airport features. It announced that 114.8 billion won will be spent on the construction of new airports in Ulleung and Heuksan. Specifically, to strengthen Gimpo Airport’s business competitiveness, it will introduce fast track, premium lounges, shared offices, and premium airport memberships by the first half of next year.

The regular press briefing held on the 21st at the Korea Airports Corporation headquarters
Photo by Korea Airports Corporation

Through the fast track, dedicated gates and security screening for business passengers will be provided, along with lounges and shared offices where passengers can rest, work, hold meetings, and conduct protocol during boarding waits. A membership system will be introduced based on usage performance for parking lots, commercial facilities, lounges, and more. To realize a smart airport, real-time data for all stages of the flight journey will be provided through an application (app).

Yoon Hyung-jung, President of Korea Airports Corporation, stated, “We will accelerate the recovery of international air travel demand through the leap of Gimpo Airport Biz+Port and strive even harder to open a new era of 1 trillion won in sales for the first time since the corporation’s founding.”

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