Airline News
Jeju builds second airport as Jeju Air soars in trading debut
November 13th 2015
South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) on Tuesday announced it would build a new $3.54 billion airport on Jeju Island, with completion scheduled by 2025. Read More » The new facility will have a single two-mile-long (3,200 meter) runway and it will be strategically located on the southern part of the island to avoid conflicts with the current airport on the northern shore. The aim is to spread the traffic between the two airports, in the air and on the ground, to avoid overcrowding of the island.
The Korean Times said the new airport would accommodate 25 million passengers annually. Interestingly, the two airports may fall under different jurisdictions. The Korean Airport Corporation operates the current Jeju International Airport, but the provincial government is looking into the possibility of running the second airport by itself.
Jeju has become a popular tourist destination in recent years, particularly for Mainland Chinese. The current airport is operating beyond its carrying capacity, over-extended by an onslaught of new schedules, particularly from low-cost carriers.
Jeju Air, owned by the Aekyung Group, has become the first Korean budget carrier to be listed on the stock exchange. Shares of Jeju Air were first listed last Friday and closed 60.3% higher than their IPO price, overtaking Asiana Airlines in terms of market capitalization.
In other Korean aviation updates, the MLIT yesterday issued a blanket hold on all airport movements from 1300 to 1340 hours to “prevent aircraft noise from affecting the language-listening part” of a critical university entrance exam. It required approaching aircraft to stay in a 10,000 ft. or higher holding pattern and be at least two miles from any airport. Approximately 70 flights, a quarter of them international, had to be rescheduled to comply with the order. A handful of local services also were cancelled.
