Does South Korea need 24 airports?

"We might dry chilies again" quipped an airline executive a day after the government unveiled the result of preval‎idation research for the Busan Gadeokdo New Airport and the Daegu-Gyeongbuk (TK) Integrated New Airport. While the imagery of drying chilies on a secured runway is purely satirical, it points to the embarrassingly low utilization rates of some of South Korea's airports. For instance, the Muan Airport reported a mere 0.1% runway usage last year, resulting in 20 billion won loss. This accumulates a staggering 130 billion won loss over the past decade. Currently, the nation operates 15 airports, but a concerning 11 of these, excluding the main hubs of Incheon, Gimpo, Gimhae, and Jeju, bleed red ink. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport has grand visions: eight more airports, including those in places such as Gadeokdo, Saemangeum, and Seosan. Toss in Gyeonggi Province's ambitions for two more facilities, and soon, South Korea could boast a whopping 24 airports.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, the primary department in charge, is pushing for airports in Gadeokdo, Daegu-Gyeongbuk, Saemangeum, Seosan, Baengnyeong, Ulleung, and Heuksan, totaling eight new airports. Gyeonggi Province and Pocheon City also suggest creating the Gyeonggi South International Airport (Suwon) and Gyeonggi North Airport (Pocheon). Considering the consolidation and relocation of the existing Daegu Airport and the military airport to the new TK Airport, and the eventual closure of Daegu Airport, nine new airports are currently under discussion or promotion. This means there will be a total of 24 airports in South Korea when all are built.

Is there a need for all these new airports? It's hard to think so. Just because a new airport is built doesn't mean there will be new demand, and airlines won't necessarily launch flights. Nevertheless, having an airport can be a status symbol for a region, and it becomes a political pledge during elections.

While there are mechanisms like preliminary feasibility studies to vet airport projects, politics often circumvents such prudence. The TK New Airport, for example, was initially met with resistance from the Democratic Party of Korea, but gained momentum following political endorsements of the party leader Lee Jae-myung saying, “(I) will review ways to take care of relocation of Gwangju Military Airport and Daegu New airport with a one-shot.” The relocation of the Gwangju Military Airport was a long-awaited project pushed by Gwangju City since 2014. In fact, both major political parties collaborated to pass special laws for the TK New Airport and the relocation of the Gwangju Airport this April, sanctioning a massive national project exceeding 20 trillion won.

The Gadeokdo New Airport, with an investment of 15.4 trillion won, is also being promoted through special legislation. Even if an airport project fails a feasibility study, it can be revived with budget allocation after negotiations between parties. The Seosan Airport in South Chungcheong, which was deemed economically nonviable in May, was resurrected after such negotiations. The Seosan Airport's proximity to Incheon Airport raises concerns about its viability as an international airport.

Japan offers a cautionary tale. There, a political drive led to nearly 100 local airports, many of which, before the pandemic in 2019, saw abysmal flight numbers, sometimes fewer than 10 a day, exacerbating the nation's debt crisis. While having managed to shave off some of its debt, South Korea still hovers around a daunting 1,000 trillion won mark. Some airports, including the Yecheon Airport in North Gyeongsang, have already shut down due to a lack of passengers, while others including the Uljin Airport have changed their purpose to pilot training. Once built, airports are hard to repurpose and entail significant maintenance costs. With 97% of South Koreans residing within 100 kilometers of an airport and the nation being crisscrossed by efficient rail networks such as the KTX, one must question the necessity of 24 airports. As the debate continues, perhaps local governments should also shoulder the responsibility – and the consequences – of such ambitious endeavors.