The South Korean government said Friday that it will soon launch a feasibility study on a possible expansion of an international airport on the country's southern resort island of Jeju.

The study, to be conducted by a consortium led by Korea Aerospace University, will last up to one year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The study comes as runways at the only airport in the country's favorite tourist destination are expected to become too crowded as early as 2018.

An earlier report from the state-run university suggested the number of air passengers to and from Jeju will more than double from about 20 million in 2013 to 44 million by 2030.

Such an outlook came amid an expansion of Chinese tourists to the South Korean island.

The number of Chinese visitors to Jeju jumped more than tenfold in just five years from 175,000 in 2008 to 1.81 million last year, the ministry has said.

The proposed study will check the possibility of adding new, additional runways at the airport, along with the possibility of building a new passenger terminal, it said. (Yonhap)