South Korea's new airport gets green light

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's new international airport will open on schedule this week, in spite of several logistical glitches.

After nine years of construction, the 5.5 billion-dollar Incheon airport west of Seoul will open Thursday, replacing the old, congested Gimpo site as the gateway for international flights.

People are worried, however, that the new airport is not quite ready following ground transport, baggage-handling and other logistical problems which could all result in long delays for passengers.

During a test run Sunday, the airport's baggage-handling system broke down for five hours.

Airport spokesman Lee Sung-jin said staff will attach baggage tags by hand, a procedure that new equipment should perform automatically.

"The system will be operated semi-automatically for about a month to prevent any confusion," Lee said.

The Incheon airport, which has two runways and a passenger terminal with 44 gates, can handle 27 million passengers a year.

Incheon is the latest airport renewal project in Asia. In 1998, Hong Kong opened Chek Lap Kok Airport, and Malaysia inaugurated Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

South Korea Government
Incheon International Airport

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