Gov't considers expanding Jeju Int'l Airport

The government said Friday that it will soon launch a feasibility study on the expansion of Jeju International Airport amid a fast growing number of visitors to the southern resort island of Jeju.

The move follows a recent study, published earlier in the day, that suggested the number of air passengers to and from Jeju will more than double from some 20 million in 2013 to over 44 million in 2030, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The airport, including its runway, will begin to be crowded from 2018, the report said.

The report by the Korea Aerospace University attributed the anticipated increase in the number of air passengers to a fast growing number of tourists from China, along with an expansion of services by low-cost carriers.

The number of Chinese tourists to Jeju spiked over tenfold in just five years from about 175,000 in 2008 to over 1.81 million last year.

Overall, the number of air passengers to and from the Jeju airport grew by an annual average of 10.1 percent over the cited period, according to the report. The number again spiked 14.1 percent on-year in the first half of this year.

"As short-term measures before an expansion of the airport, the government plans to expand the airport terminal and add additional facilities, while also enhancing the airport's air traffic control capacity to help make sure there will be no inconvenience to the visitors," the ministry said in a press release.

The ministry said the feasibility study for the expansion of the airport will be launched in the near future, adding the government has already earmarked about US$1 million to that end. (Yonhap)