Inchon Airport system flaws likely to cause problems: DLiA

Inchon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) will be unable to complete the work of integrating and adjusting 38 infrastructures, such as the integrated information control system (IICS) and flight information system (FIS) by the time of its grand opening on Mar. 29, an inspection report showed Wednesday. IICS plays a pivotal role in the operation of the mammoth new airport while FIS is its nerve center. The unstable systems are expected to give rise to serious confusion for some time after the airport`s opening, delaying flight departures and prompting passengers to go to the wrong gates.

The problems were revealed in a report by the DLiA aviation consulting consortium, which conducted an intensive inspection of safety and systems operations at the airport. The report was acquired exclusively by The Dong-a Ilbo.

The consortium recommended that IIAC authorities initially limit airport use to a small number of flights, including those to and from Japan, or use the airport exclusively for cargo planes until the system is stabilized. It also said in the report that it would take at least three months of test operations to stabilize the system after it goes online. Airport systems often fail to recognize certain data because they tend to be built by different companies, causing delays in efforts to even put them into operation.

``If we operate the network manually after changing it to a fallback, there will be no problem, although we will still have to complete the work of connecting and stabilizing the system ahead of the opening,`` an IIAC official said. ``We will never postpone the opening.``

Song Jin-Hup jinhup@donga.com