Completion of new Busan airport fast-tracked to 2029

Economy

Published: 14 Mar. 2023, 18:18

Completion of new Busan airport fast-tracked to 2029

Park Ji-hong, who heads the team on Gadeok-do International Airport at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, at a press briefing on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Gadeok-do International Airport will be fast-tracked for completion in December 2029, about five years and six months faster than originally planned.

The government will begin work on the new international airport near Busan in 2024.

The move aims to help Busan win its bid for the World Expo in 2030, with Korea’s largest port in a fierce completion with Riyadh, Rome and Odesa.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced its basic plan for the new airport on Tuesday.

The new airport will cover 4 million square meters with a 3.5-kilometer airstrip.

Contrary to the optimal plan put forth during the feasibility study, which called for building the entire airport on an artificial island, the new plan entails an airport that spans both land and sea.

The plan calls for the use of reclaimed land to build the runway, which the government said was safer and cheaper than the other two options under consideration: a floating runway or building the runway on a pier.

The government also said what with no examples of large-scale floating runways anywhere in the world, preparations to build a floating runway would take too long.

The passenger terminal will be built on land while the airstrip will be built over the sea.

A study found that construction could be shortened by 27 months if work on the passenger terminal begins early.

The government said it will adopt other proposals, including the use of new technologies, to further shortened construction time.

Park Ji-hong, head of the ministry’s Gadeok-do International Airport construction department, said a consulting group of 60 experts revised the construction plans, including the time it would take to build the airport.

“We have decided the construction method and airport layout,” said Park.
“We also discussed building the airport early and opening the airport to support Busan’s bid for World Expo 2030.”

The government estimates the new international airport will cost 13.8 trillion won ($10.5 billion).

Lay out of the Gadeok-do International Airport. [MINISTRY OF LAND, INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT]

Officials from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) will be arriving in Busan in the first week of next month to evaluate the city.

Busan’s biggest rival is believed to be Riyadh.

In addition to April’s evaluation, Busan will have another chance to pitch the city during a presentation at the BIE headquarters in June before the final vote in November.

The BIE delegation visited Riyadh last week and will be visiting Odesa next week before arriving in Busan. The last city that the team will visit is Rome, 10 days after leaving Busan.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]