|
Incheon International Airport (IIA) ((朝鮮語:인천국제공항), sometimes referred to as Seoul-Incheon International Airport) is the largest airport in South Korea, the primary airport serving the Seoul Capital Area, and one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. Since 2005, it has been rated the best airport worldwide by Airports Council International every year. It is also rated as the world's cleanest airport and the world's best international transit airport by Skytrax.〔http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards/worlds_best_transit_airports.html〕 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 19 minutes and 12 minutes respectively, as compared to worldwide average of 60 minutes and 45 minutes respectively, ranking it among 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 2013 by Business Traveller. Incheon International Airport also claims that it has only a 0.0001% baggage mishandling rate. Located west of Seoul, the capital and the 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 2014. In that year, 40,785,953 international passengers used the airport. The airport opened for business in early 2001 to replace the older Gimpo International Airport, which now serves mostly domestic destinations plus shuttle flights to alternate airports in China, Japan, and Taiwan. Incheon International Airport is located west of Incheon's city center, on an artificially created piece of land between Yeongjong and Yongyu islands. The two islands were originally separated by shallow sea. That area between the two islands was reclaimed for the construction project, effectively connecting the once separate Yeongjong and Yongyu islands. The reclaimed area as well as the two islands are all part of Jung-gu, an administrative district of Incheon. It is connected to the mainland by Incheon International Airport Expressway (Expressway 130), a part of which is Yeongjong Bridge. The expressway also connects Gimpo International Airport to provide connections between domestic flight service with international air traffic, an advantage that makes it much easier to travel from southern Korean regions to Incheon, and then to airports all over the globe. Incheon Bridge serves as the second path to the southern part of Incheon city from October 2009. The airport is served by frequent bus service from all parts of South Korea as well as by traditional ferry service between Yeongjong pier and Incheon. Airport limousines operate around the clock from Seoul to Incheon, and several backup highway buses escort people from places within and outside Seoul. The Incheon International Airport Railroad connects Incheon International Airport to Seoul Station in downtown Seoul. Non-Stop Express trains 43 minutes, and regular trains which stops at all stations takes 53 minutes to Seoul Station. KTX high-speed rail access is available within the same station. The airport holds an unbreakable record of being ranked the Best Airport Worldwide for 7 consecutive years by the Airports Council International (ACI)'s Airport Service Quality award from 2005 to 2011, and was also rated the world's best among airports of its size (25-40m) and region (Asia-Pacific) in 2012 due to the institution's decision to discontinue the Best Airport Worldwide category. Seoul Incheon International Airport's terminal has 76 boarding gates altogether, with 44 in the main terminal and 30 in Concourse A. ==History== After the Seoul Olympics of 1988, international air traffic to Korea increased. In the 1990s, it became apparent that Gimpo International Airport could not cope with the increase in air traffic. To reduce the load on Gimpo International Airport, construction of the Incheon airport began in November 1992. It was constructed on reclaimed land between Yeongjong Island and Youngyu Island, and took eight years to construct, with an additional six months to test. The airport was officially opened in March 2001. Initially, there were numerous problems, mostly involving baggage handling, which required the system to be operated semi-automatically. Most of the problems were fixed within a month, and the airport began to operate normally. Air traffic increased markedly, and by early 2002 due to 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2002 Asian Games, it became apparent that the airport would be saturated by 2006. As a result, the construction of the second phase was initiated in February 2002. Originally, the construction was supposed to have ended by December 2008. Due to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, however, the construction schedule was modified to allow the construction to end by July 2008. On 15 November 2006, the Airbus A380 landed at the airport as part of the first leg of its certification trip. Tests on the runways, taxiways, and ramps showed that the airport could handle the aircraft. To further upgrade service, Incheon and major Korean logistics firm Hanjin Corporation (parent company of the Korean Flag Carrier, Korean Air) agreed on 10 January 2008 to build a nine-story hospital near the airport. Once construction is complete in 2011, the Yeongjong Medical Centre is expected to serve nearby residents and some of Korea's annual 30,000 medical tourists.〔() 〕 Terminal 2 is expected to open at soonest in 2017 to increase capacity. AREX and KTX will extend their lines to provide access to the new terminal. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Incheon International Airport」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|