Poland, Czech Republic Seek Advice
Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) is accelerating its entry into emerging markets in Eastern Europe, including Poland and the Czech Republic, based on the contract to operate Kuwait Airport signed on May 8.
Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on May 24 that it held a meeting in Warsaw on May 23 with officials of the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction and Polish Airlines to discuss the development of a new airport in Warsaw.
The meeting was held in response to the Polish government's request to share Incheon International Airport's know-how in airport construction and operation with regard to the Warsaw New Airport Development Project. The Polish government is currently pushing to construct a new airport as the current Warsaw Airport is expected to reach saturation in 2027. The new airport in Warsaw is designed to accommodate 45 million passengers per year and aims to become one of the world's top 10 airports with 100 million passengers per year at the final stage.
the meeting, the IIAC actively publicized its experience in every phase of building and operating Incheon International Airport, ranging from the selection of the airport site, its successful opening and the know-how in making IIA the world’s best airport for 12 straight years, to the recent successful opening of the second passenger terminal and landing an order to operate Kuwait Airport from Kuwait. .
Meanwhile, IIAC secured a bridgehead for an entry into the airport development business in the Czech Republic, as it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Prague Airport Corporation at Prague Airport Headquarters Building on May 22 in the local time.
Prague Airport is the Czech Republic's No. 1 airport which serves 94.7% of total airline passengers of the country. The airport is also a hub of Eastern Europe. Demand for Prague Airport has been on a sharp rise as passengers who used the airport in 2017 leaped up about 18%.
Through the MOU, the two airports will expand their partnership to overall airport operations such as co-marketing, joint research on the implementation of smart airports and cooperation for increasing passengers and air cargos.
In addition, as the Prague Airport side has requested Incheon International Airport's know-how for the Prague Airport Expansion Project and the development of areas surrounding Prague Airport, the two airports will cooperate closely on airport development projects. Prague Airport is planning to expand its domestic terminal (T2) and build a new runway by investing about 1.4 trillion won by 2020.
Incheon International Airport attributes a boom in its overseas projects mainly in newly emerging markets in Eastern Europe such as Poland and the Czech Republic to its project to operate Kuwait Airport Terminal 4 landed on May 8. The Kuwait Airport Operation project will earn IIAC US$ 127.6 million, which means that the single project eclipses all of IIAC’s cumulative overseas projects (US$ 93.44 million) in terms of monetary value.
IIAC plans to accelerate its entry into emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and India, using the Kuwait Airport project as a springboard.