South Korea’s transport ministry and Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) held an event on Friday to celebrate the opening of a second passenger terminal at Incheon International Airport.
The second terminal at the Incheon airport begins commercial operations on Jan. 18, with Korean Air Lines Co. scheduled to make the first flight from the new terminal at 7:55 a.m. to Manila, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.
The ceremony, attended by 1,000 people, was also held four weeks ahead of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, which are slated for Feb. 9-25, to promote the expansion of the country’s main gateway to the world, the statement said.
Korean Air and three foreign full-service carriers — Delta Air Lines, Inc., Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines — will also serve passengers in the second terminal, the ministry said.
IIAC invested 4.93 trillion won (US$4.6 billion) from June 2009 to December 2017 to build the second terminal.
In 2015, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines Inc. wanted to move to the second terminal from the existing first terminal.
The government asked them to submit their operating plans for the new terminal. Korean Air was selected over Asiana Airlines after an analysis of their plans, the ministry said.
The three foreign airlines were selected because they have business ties with the Korean flagship carrier through the SkyTeam airline alliance, an official said. The airlines share passenger transfer and code-share programs.
Asiana and 85 other airlines will use the first terminal.
The first terminal served 62 million passengers and handled 2.92 million tons of cargo in 2017. With the addition of the second terminal, the Incheon airport can handle a total of 72 million passengers and 5 million tons of cargo annually, the statement said.
Korean Airline, Delta Airline, Air France, KLM airline will be at the Incheon Airport 2nd Terminal.
So do not confuse with your terminal!