Incheon International Airport Facts for Kids

Incheon International Airport

Incheon International Airport is the biggest international airport in South Korea. It's where most international flights arrive and depart every day. Before Incheon, Gimpo Airport near Seoul was the main international airport.

But as more people traveled, Gimpo Airport became too small. It couldn't handle all the flights. So, in 1992, a plan began to build a new, bigger airport that could operate 24 hours a day.

Incheon International Airport is located in Incheon City. To connect it to Seoul, special transport links were built. These include the Incheon International Airport Railroad (A'REX) and the Incheon International Airport Highway. The airport is run by the Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC). The government of South Korea owns it.

Airport History
Airport Facilities
Images for kids
See also

Airport History

Incheon International Airport first opened its doors on March 29, 2001. It was built on land that was created by filling in parts of the sea. This land was between two islands, Yongjongdo and Youngyudo.

The first part of building the airport started in 1992. It took eight years and four months to finish. This first stage cost about 7.8 trillion Korean Won. After this, the airport could handle 170,000 flights each year. It could also welcome 27 million passengers and move 1.7 million tons of cargo.

The second stage of building began in 2002. It was finished on June 20, 2008. With these upgrades, the airport could now manage even more. It could handle 410,000 flights, 44 million passengers, and 4.5 million tons of cargo every year.

By 2020, the airport was planned to be even larger. It would have two main buildings for passengers. It would also have four extra areas called concourses. There would be 128 gates for planes and four parallel runways. Once fully finished, it was expected to serve 100 million passengers and 7 million tons of cargo each year.

Airport Facilities

Incheon International Airport has many different areas. These include places for passengers and for cargo.

The passenger areas include the main passenger terminal. There is also a passenger concourse called Concourse A. For cargo, there is a large cargo terminal complex. This complex has three parts: A, B, and C.

The airport also has important operation facilities. These help the airport run smoothly. They include the control tower, which guides planes. There are also the runways where planes take off and land. Plus, there are special weather facilities to help with safe flights.