AGENCIES in Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, are elated at news that a second round of expansion is being planned for Gimhae International Airport.
Gimhae is currently undergoing improvement works to increase its capacity, set for an early-2017 completion, but Busan is experiencing such a surge in demand that operator Korea Airports Corporation has announced plans to further increase the size of the international passenger terminal.
“From our point of view, bigger has to be better,” said Lee Sang-ha, general manager of Busan-based Hannam Overseas Tour Corp.
“Before the current phase of development, we were not happy with the capacity of the airport. But I’m very pleased to hear that they are now considering expanding it even further.”
The Philippines, China and Vietnam are popular destinations for South Koreans departing from Gimhae, added Lee, and the possibility of additional flights will be a boon.
Park Jung-san, spokesperson at NTP Tours concurs. “The existing airport is not big enough for a city the size of Busan,” he said, adding that the enlarged airport needs “more seating areas, restaurants and duty free shops.”
Passenger traffic at Gimhae has risen by an average of more than 16 per cent every year since 2006, with the airport handling 4.86 million travellers in 2014. The figure for 2015 is expected to surpass 5.3 million.
After expansion, facilities are expected to handle 8 million passengers a year.
