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Incheon Airport Terminal 2 Expansion Project finalized, Set to Open in October 2024
A massive 30-year construction project will bring Incheon International Airport to 100 million passenger capacity, the third largest in the world.
Currently 95% complete, the final phase of construction is underway to expand the terminal and runways.
Incheon Airport will be the third largest airport in the world, after Dubai and Istanbul, and the first in the world to have two passenger terminals with a combined capacity of more than 50 million passengers.
After nearly 30 years and four phases of construction, it’s finally coming to a close later this year.
The beginning of Incheon International Airport
Incheon International Airport has been expanded four times over the years. The first was to fill in the sea to create a site 18 times the size of Yeouido.
The tidal flats between the four islands of Yeongjong island, Yongyu Island, Sammok Island, and Sinbul Island were filled with 1 million dump truckloads of earth, and a 17.3 kilometer seawall was built.
At the time, it was said to be the largest project in Korea’s history, requiring a large number of people and a large amount of money.
Step-by-step construction progress of Incheon Airport
Phase 1, which included site preparation, began in 1992 and took eight years and five months to complete, with Incheon Airport opening in 2001.
The second phase of construction, which began in 2002, expanded the boarding hall, third runway, cargo terminal, and surrounding facilities.
Terminal 2, built during Phase 3, opened in 2018, covering 80% of the original Terminal 1 and adding 23 million additional passengers per year.
Then came Phase 4, a major expansion of Terminal 2
Phase 4, which began in 2017, will complete the two wings of Terminal 2 that were left unfinished and add another runway.
In total, Incheon International Airport will have two terminals and four runways, with construction currently over 95% complete and in its final stages.
The total project cost is approximately KRW 13.2 trillion and the construction period is approximately 23 years and 5 months.
Innovation and expansion at Incheon International Airport
Upon completion of Phase 4, the airport’s annual passenger capacity will increase to 160 million from the current 77 million, making it the third largest airport in the world after Dubai and Istanbul.
It will also be the first airport in the world to have two passenger terminals with a capacity of more than 50 million passengers each, with Terminal 1 at 54 million and Terminal 2 at 52 million.
Since opening, passenger growth has been around 7.5% per year, so Korea has been looking ahead and preparing for the future.
The new terminal will feature an outdoor garden for passengers to walk outside after immigration, a giant-sized kinetic sculpture, and a large, tens of meters-long billboard.
The arrivals and departures board, which graphically displays flight schedules and locations, is the largest in the world. Comprehensive commissioning of basic facilities is also in full swing.
