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Major airports in Asia invest in capacity to meet surging demand

MAJOR airports in South Korea, China, Japan and Singapore are racing to increase capacity by building new airports, adding runways and expanding passenger terminals to meet rising demand and become Asia's top gateway to the world.

"Asian countries are showing significant growth in air travel, higher than the global average, amid their continued economic growth, which leads to airports' massive expansion and a paradigm change in the industry," Korea Aerospace University professor Hurr Hee-young told The Korea Herald.

According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, US$226.8 billion will be invested in building new airports or expanding airport facilities in Asia Pacific, equivalent to 37 per cent of global investment, and the highest of any region in the world.

Incheon International Airport in South Korea is undergoing the third phase of the expansion plan to build its second passenger terminal by 2017 at an estimated cost of KRW4.9 trillion ($4.16 billion). Once the construction is completed, the airport will be able to handle 5.8 million tons of air cargo and 62 million passengers annually with three additional runways.

Singapore's Changi Airport plans to ramp up its capacity by building a fifth terminal and a third runway, with the projects to be completed in the middle of the next decade. A fourth terminal is currently under construction.

"Once-sleepy, Asian airline and airport peers are waking up and taking back the traffic Incheon has attracted. Long-haul growth is occurring out of Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taipei," the Centre for Aviation said in a report.

China surpasses other Asian countries in the number of airport construction projects and the amount of capital investment. A second airport is currently under construction in Beijing's Daxing District. The new facility is estimated to cost $13.1 billion and is scheduled to open in 2018. The new international airport will be able to handle 72 million passengers before 2025.

The Chinese government plans to spend $78 billion to build more regional airports. It is projected by 2020 the country will have 260 airports, up from 202 at the end of 2014.

In April, Japan's Narita International Airport opened a terminal for budget airlines to court a growing number of low-cost carriers for domestic and short-haul overseas flights. In Osaka the airport operator is considering constructing a fourth terminal dedicated to low-cost carriers at Kansai Airport.