Busan moves to develop hub airport strategy for Gadeokdo New Airport

Busan city government held a kickoff briefing for a research project on a phased strategy to develop Gadeokdo New Airport into a hub airport.

The briefing, held Tuesday afternoon in a conference room on the 10th floor of city hall, covered the work plan and detailed implementation schedule of Korea Management Association Consulting, the firm conducting the research, followed by an open discussion among participants. Experts from the city's new airport promotion office, Korea Airports Corp., the Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority, the Busan Research Institute and Eunsan Sea-Air joined to exchange views on how to develop the airport into a hub.

The research project, which got under way June 1, was launched to establish proactive strategies so that Gadeokdo New Airport can operate stably from the moment it opens and grow into a Northeast Asian hub. Over the course of a year through next May, the project will draw up growth strategies and action plans covering the airport's operating framework, expansion of medium- and long-haul strategic routes, attraction of anchor carriers and stimulation of air travel demand.

Construction of Gadeokdo New Airport — for which the Daewoo Engineering consortium began basic design for site preparation work and detailed design for priority construction on March 9 — is on track for a ground-breaking on the priority construction phase by the end of this year. With the project now in full swing, the city said it is time to focus not only on opening the airport as quickly as possible but also on securing operational stability once it does.

Meanwhile, the Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority held the inaugural meeting of the "Gadeokdo New Airport Airline Consultative Body" on June 18, bringing together six carriers currently serving Gimhae International Airport: Korean Air, Air Busan, Jin Air, Jeju Air, Eastar Jet and Trinity Airways. The authority and the airlines shared updates on the new airport project and the basic architectural design, and discussed key operational matters including transit passenger flow and cargo handling facilities. The authority said it plans to review the airlines' input and incorporate it into the design process.

"We will do our best to ensure that Gadeokdo New Airport secures differentiated competitiveness and establishes itself early as a Northeast Asian hub airport," said Park Jae-hong, head of the city's new airport promotion office.