Work has started on the third phase of the Incheon International Airport expansion plan that will fuel growth of the key Northeast Asian transportation hub, the Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) said Sunday.

The state-operated corporation said that it picked blueprints for the airport’s second passenger terminal drawn up by a consortium led by Heerim Architects and Planners Co.

It said the company and its partners, including Gensler and Associates International Ltd., will be tasked with providing a definitive, basic blueprint by middle of 2012 so full-fledged construction can begin the following year. Work on the second terminal should be finished by 2017.

“Heerim’s plan was selected because it merged nicely with the existing original passenger terminal building and the concourse structure, as well as being practical and eco-friendly,” an expert hired by the IIAC to review all of the submitted designs said.

A total of nine consortiums took part in the bid for the second passenger terminal, with the winner also given the right to build a hotel and convention center adjacent to the terminal.

He added that the design called for the use of advanced technologies and included futuristic elements that reflected the aspirations for the international airport to become an even bigger presence in global transportation.

Incheon airport, located some 70 kilometers west of downtown Seoul, has been consecutively rated as the best airport in the world by the Airports Council International. It opened for business in February 2002 with work on the second phase completed in June 2008.

It currently has three runways and handles more than 44 million passengers and 4.5 million tons of cargo every year, making it one of the busiest airports in the world.

Once construction is completed, Incheon airport will be able to handle 62 million passengers and 5.8 million tons of air cargo per year. 

(Yonhap News)