T'way Air to Establish First LCC-Owned Maintenance Facility at Incheon Airport

Agreement Signed for Investment Attraction in Incheon Airport and Maintenance Facilities

A bird's-eye view of T'way Air's new maintenance facility to be established in the Incheon Airport Advanced Complex Aviation Cluster. Provided by Incheon International Airport Corporation

The first aircraft maintenance facility for a low-cost carrier (LCC) in Korea will be established in the advanced integrated aviation complex at Incheon Airport.

Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on the 6th that it signed an implementation agreement on the 30th of last month with T'way Air to attract investment for a new aircraft maintenance facility in the advanced integrated aviation complex.

Accordingly, T'way Air plans to build a 2-bay hangar capable of simultaneously maintaining one E-class (approximately 350 seats) aircraft and four C-class (approximately 190 seats) aircraft. The project, with a budget of 150 billion KRW, aims to begin operations in early 2028. After completing the basic design this year, construction will start in the first half of next year, with the hangar scheduled for completion in 2027 and full-scale operations commencing the following year. For the first three years after completion, maintenance will focus primarily on aircraft owned by T'way Air, and from the fourth year, outsourced maintenance prioritizing domestic airlines will be implemented.

With this, T'way Air, which has mainly outsourced aircraft MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul) to overseas companies, will be able to maintain 70 aircraft annually by operating its own maintenance facility. Maintenance costs are expected to be reduced by approximately 12.9 billion KRW per year. Furthermore, the company plans to secure maintenance contracts from other domestic LCCs.

Incheon International Airport Corporation expects this agreement to generate a production inducement effect of 478.4 billion KRW over the next 10 years through construction and equipment investment. Additionally, it anticipates preventing the outflow of 182.6 billion KRW worth of aviation maintenance revenue over the next 30 years by expanding domestic maintenance.

In particular, this is seen as a stepping stone toward becoming a world-class advanced integrated aviation complex. In the short term, the plan is to attract maintenance demand from domestic, Japanese, and Southeast Asian regions, and in the long term, to draw maintenance demand from global LCCs to Incheon Airport.

Lee Hak-jae, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, stated, "This will reduce the high dependence of domestic LCCs on overseas maintenance," and added, "In the long term, by attracting overseas maintenance demand based on strengthened aircraft maintenance capabilities, we can expand Incheon Airport's brand in the global aircraft MRO market, which is expected to continue growing."

Jung Hong-geun, CEO of T'way Air, said, "Through this hangar construction and operation project, the first of its kind for an LCC, we will strengthen our own maintenance capabilities, secure global-level maintenance quality, and continue to develop a more specialized system."

Lee Hak-jae, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation (left), and Jung Hong-geun, CEO of T'way Air, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing the investment attraction agreement for the Advanced Complex Aviation Complex Maintenance Facility (H2) at the Incheon International Airport Corporation building on the 30th of last month. Photo by Incheon International Airport Corporation

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