Blog On World Of Airlines: Incheon International Airport

Sunday, 14 July 2013

Incheon International Airport

IATA: ICN, ICAO: RKSI

It is the largest airport in South Korea, the primary airport serving the Seoul National Capital Area, and one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. For seven years in a row (2005–2012), it was rated the best airport worldwide by Airports Council International. The airport has a golf course, spa, private sleeping rooms, ice skating rink, a casino, indoor gardens and a Museum of Korean Culture.

Airport authorities claim that average departure and arrival takes only 19 (60 minutes world-wide industry average) and 12 minutes (45 minutes) respectively, significantly lower than the rest of the world, making it one of the fastest airports in the world for customs processing. Its duty-free shopping mall has been rated the world's best for three years in a row in 2012 by Business Traveler.

Located 48 km (30 mi) west of Seoul, the capital and largest city of South Korea, Incheon International Airport is the main hub for Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Polar Air Cargo. The airport serves as a hub for international civilian air transportation and cargo traffic in East Asia. Incheon International Airport is also currently Asia's eighth busiest airport in terms of passengers, the world's fourth busiest airport by cargo traffic, and the world's eighth busiest airport in terms of international passengers in 2010. In 2011, 35,062,376 passengers used the airport.

The airport opened for business in early 2001, replacing the older Gimpo International Airport, which now serves mostly domestic destinations plus shuttle flights to alternate airports in China, Japan, and Taiwan.

Control tower

Incheon Airport – Traffic Centre

Located at the center of the airport, the 22 story Control Tower is 100.4 metres (329 ft) tall and is illuminated 24 hours a day. On its highest floor is located a parabolic antenna that is used by the Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) to detect all airplanes and obstacles within 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) of the tower. The upper floors are used by ground and tower controllers while the lower floors are mostly for support operations. The control tower has a total area of 179 square meters making it the 3rd largest in the world as of 2001.

Runways

There are three parallel paved asphalt runways in operation,

15R/33L, 15L/33R and 16/34.

Runway 15R/33L and 15L/33R are each 3,750 metres (12,300 ft) long, 60 metres (200 ft) wide, and 1.05 metres (3 ft 5 in) thick.

Runway 16/34 is 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) long.

Runway 15R/33L is used mostly for departures while runway 15L/33R is used mostly for arrivals.

This is evident from the amount of rubber present on each runway; runway 15L/33R has more rubber on it due to the higher number of landings.

A third parallel runway (16/34), 4,000 meters long, began operation in June 2008. Landing and takeoffs of most passenger flights are done on the new runway and the existing runway 15R/33L while runway 15L/33R is mostly used for cargo flights for its proximity with the cargo terminals.

Although the runways are labelled 33 and 34, all three runways have the same heading.

Once Phase 4 construction is complete, the airport will have 4 parallel runways, two of them 3,750 meters long and the other two 4,000 meters long. All runways are equipped with ILS CAT IIIb at both sides allowing for operation in visibility conditions as low as 50 meters. As of the date of upgrade, Incheon International Airport was the only airport in Asia to have full ILS CAT IIIb capability. The runway lightings at Incheon International Airport (as well as the taxi lights) are tied into special computers at the control tower. Air Traffic Controllers can provide progressive taxiing to an aircraft by setting the computer to manipulate the taxi and runway lights so that it will lead them to their designated gate or parking stand.

Airlines and destinations

There are currently over 90 airlines serving ICN. The largest carrier in terms of passenger numbers is Korean Air, followed by Asiana Airlines. Although all domestic flights depart from the main terminal, international gates are separated from the domestic gates.

Incheon has more Chinese destinations than Hong Kong International Airport and more Japanese destinations than Narita International Airport.

Cargo Terminal Complex[edit]

The Cargo Terminal Complex comprises six cargo terminals, five separate warehouses, All E/F Class 36 parking stands, and administration offices. Each cargo terminal is designed to provide each carrier with unique services, and a cargo warehouse – approximately 3,500 square metres (38,000 sq ft). They are separated into three areas, import, passing and export. Using the systems, managers can view individual package information, tracking information, storage information, etc. in real time. The terminals also feature various other high-tech technologies.

The Cargo Terminal Complex was designed to be able to process 1.7 million tons of cargo per year. However, due to the increased demands, the operators of Cargo A Terminal and Cargo B Terminal has opted to expand their facilities onto the land that is available nearby. As a result, the total processing ability of the complex is currently rated at 3.8 million tons per year. The C Terminal, was not able to expand however, due to the lack of direct airside access. Once Phase II expansion is complete, the airport will have a processing ability of around 4.9 million metric tons per year. This is because the expansion which was originally designed to allow an expansion to 4.5 million tons per year would be adding on top of the current processing ability, which includes the expansions by Korean Air Cargo and Asiana Cargo which was conducted separately on a piece of land that did not conflict with the airport expansion plans.

The Cargo Terminal Complex operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, nonstop. In addition, the automation systems had been upgraded. As a result, it is typical for the airport to output an extra 2 million tons per year processing capability than the original design.