South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) said it is planning to broaden its overseas business portfolio from airport consultancy and operations to development and stake investment in an effort to diversify and increase profits.
IIAC, which operates Incheon International Airport, is looking to the upcoming terminal and airport projects in the Middle East and emerging markets, such as Istanbul, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, reported Yonhap News.
“The company aims to diversify its overseas business models, which currently center on consulting and operating services, into airport development and stake investments in overseas airports,” IIAC said in a statement on July 22.
“Incheon Airport has an expertise in operational readiness and airport transfer (ORAT), the core technology required to build an airport. It is unrivaled in integrating and stabilizing operating systems based on an advanced baggage handling system and personnel training programs,” the statement said.
In 2015, Incheon Airport became the consulting firm for the first stage of an airport construction project in Istanbul, which is set to open late this year to handle 90 million passengers per year. In April, the Korean airport company won the bid to operate the fourth terminal of Kuwait International Airport, it said.
Meanwhile, the Incheon International Airport is projected to transport a record total of 69 million passengers by the end of this year, given that more than 33 million passengers have traveled through the airport so far this year, the company said.
On January 18, the No. 2 terminal began operations to meet the growing number of users of the “hub airport of Northeast Asia.” For this year as of July 18, the number of flights jumped 9.1% to 188,264 from 172,520 a year earlier and cargo volumes on international routes climbed 2% to 1.46 million tons from 1.43 million tons, it said.
Photo: Ken Eckert
