SUWON — Gyeonggi Province will revive plans to build an international airport, a project that stalled after being launched under former Governor Kim Dong-yeon and is now being pushed again by Governor Choo Mi-ae. The province plans to resume a research study that was suspended amid questions over the fairness of a contract award, and to flesh out development plans for each candidate site. Still, considerable hurdles remain before construction can begin, including selecting a site and negotiating with the local governments involved.
Choo signaled her commitment to the project on the 19th at a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, held at the provincial government's Yulgok Hall, according to reporting by The Seoul Economic Daily on the 20th. Responding to a question from lawmaker Yeom Tae-young, Choo said it makes no sense that Gyeonggi Province has no airport when it produces more semiconductors than anywhere else and has ample demand for advanced air cargo.
The airport was an ambitious initiative that Kim pursued during his term, tied to the relocation of the Suwon military airfield. In November 2024, based on the findings of a study on a vision and implementation plan for building the airport, the province named three candidate sites: reclaimed land at Hwaseong Lake in Hwaseong, Seotan-myeon in Pyeongtaek and Moga-myeon in Icheon.
The province initially identified 10 locations across five cities as first-round candidates, then assessed airspace, weather, obstacles, noise, accessibility and room for expansion in line with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It narrowed the list to three after also weighing the potential for balanced regional development and economic feasibility.
The economic analysis was favorable as well. Based on an airport site of 2.7 million square meters with a single 3,200-meter runway, all three candidate sites had benefit-cost ratios above 1.0, the province said, meaning expected benefits exceed the money invested. That figure, however, came from a study commissioned by the province and is separate from any future feasibility review at the national level.
The main reason the province is pursuing the airport is an expected surge in passenger and air cargo demand. The province has argued a new airport is needed because Gyeonggi's population is projected to reach 14.79 million by 2040 and because about 34% of travelers using Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport are Gyeonggi residents. With no civilian international airport in the province, residents take an average of one hour and 22 minutes to reach an airport, the province said.
Air cargo demand is expected to keep climbing, particularly because southern Gyeonggi is home to a dense cluster of advanced industries such as semiconductors and mobility. A semiconductor mega-cluster project, which will draw 622 trillion won ($437 billion) in investment through 2047, is also cited as a major source of demand. The province's study projected that, assuming the airport opens in 2035, passenger demand would reach 17.55 million and air cargo demand more than 350,000 tons by 2065. The province sees the airport serving as one pillar of a multi-airport system in the greater Seoul area, complementing Incheon and Gimpo.
Plans have also been drawn up to link the airport to local industrial development. The province intends to seek designation of a free economic zone around the airport and to build an airport economic area centered on mobility in Hwaseong and on semiconductors in Pyeongtaek and Icheon. To that end, it reviewed plans for an airport complex city, aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations, logistics and industrial parks, a research complex and an international business district. Building a wide-area transport network linking roads and railways with urban air mobility (UAM) was also included.
The project made no progress, however, as momentum weakened after Kim failed to win reelection and as questions arose over the fairness of the selection of the research contractor. Allegations of favoritism surfaced after it emerged that firms headed by two former advisory committee members who had been involved in the airport campaign had each won related contracts.
The province concluded after an internal audit that no laws had been broken. The two had already been dismissed from their advisory posts by the time of the bidding, it said, and had used publicly available information to take part.
Choo also told the audit that she found the airport study had been suspended when she took office. An investigation found no potential conflict of interest and the results were reliable, she said, so she decided to resume the work.
The province is accordingly expected to restart the suspended research on candidate sites and on strategies for developing the surrounding area. It will then firm up development plans for each site and move ahead with talks with the local governments involved and an open call for host sites. Securing acceptance from local residents, resolving the military airfield relocation and aligning the plan with national airport policy remain tasks to be worked out as the project proceeds.