Strike averted at new Incheon airport

Test runs at Incheon airport have failed to rectify baggage-handling problems

SEOUL, South Korea -- The South Korean government has averted a strike that could have marred the opening of the new Incheon International Airport on Thursday.

The government promised to lower highway toll fees for airport and airline workers who had threatened to disrupt services at the new airport.

Some 16,500 unionized workers at Seoul's older Gimpo airport and workers at Korean Air, and Asiana Airlines had complained the toll fees would mean higher commuting costs.

The highway to the Incheon airport is the only direct access from Seoul, 60 kilometers (37 miles) away.

"We have decided to call off the strike as the government accepted some of our demands," the unions said in a joint statement.

Pilots were not among the protesters.

The new tolls take effect on April 20 and will cost airline and airport workers 2,000 won ($2) instead of the 10,000 won ($8.30) that motorists are normally charged.

The old Gimpo airport, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Seoul, can be reached by a highway with no tolls.

Uncertain success

South Korea hopes the $5.5-billion computerized Incheon airport would become an air traffic hub in Northeast Asia

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

But there are concerns that ground transport and baggage-handling problems at the new airport could mean long delays for passengers.

Incheon's computerized baggage-handling system has not operated properly in test runs.

Travelers will also have to pay about twice as much for a taxi ride to downtown Seoul as they would at the older Gimpo airport.

Cheap rail service will not be available until 2005.

The Incheon airport 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's new airport gets green light

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