Ministry of Strategy and Finance selects preliminary targets.

Efforts to guarantee daily living rights for islanders.

Mayor Park Namchun. "Follow-up procedures are carried out without a.k.a. Mayor Park Namchun.

A preliminary feasibility study will be conducted to build an airport on Baengnyeongdo Island, the northernmost island of the West Sea.

The Incheon Metropolitan Government announced on the 3rd that the construction project of Baengnyeong Airport was selected as a preliminary feasibility study (preliminary feasibility study) at the 6th National Finance Evaluation Committee of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

The preliminary selection took place in the third challenge after being frustrated twice in deliberations in May and December last year.

The construction of Baengnyeong Airport is an emphasis project promoted by Incheon City and a long-cherished desire of local residents to improve settlement conditions for residents of the West Sea and guarantee their daily living rights.

The project will invest 174 billion won to build a 50-seater small airport with a runway (length of 1,200m, width of 30m), a control tower, and a passenger terminal on 254,000㎡ of Solgae district in Baengnyeong-myeon, Ongjin-gun, Incheon.

Earlier, in the "Pre-validity Review of Baengnyeong Airport Construction Project" conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2017, the cost benefit (B/C) was high at 2.19, raising expectations for the possibility of project promotion.

In addition, the Incheon Metropolitan Government explained that it has made this achievement with the support of local lawmakers while actively responding by establishing a cooperative system with central ministries.

If the preliminary feasibility study proceeds, procedures such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's basic airport development plan establishment and feasibility study service (2023), basic and implementation design service (2024), and implementation plan approval (2024) will be carried out. Construction starts in 2025 and aims to open the port in 2027.

The Incheon Metropolitan Government expects that the construction of Baengnyeong Airport will take about an hour to fly from the Seoul metropolitan area to Baengnyeongdo Island, reducing the travel time by more than four hours by passenger ship by about three hours. This will enable daily living areas on the three northernmost islands in the West Sea, including Baengnyeongdo Island, Daecheongdo Island, and Socheongdo Island. In the event of an emergency, the ability to respond is also improved.

It is expected to greatly contribute to balanced regional development as it will be possible to attract domestic and foreign tourists and attract investment based on tourism resources such as Baengnyeong and Daecheong national geoparks. Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun said, "We will make every effort to open Baengnyeong Airport in 2027 by implementing the follow-up procedure without a hitch."

Lee Jongil

Source : https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=03591606629242112&mediaCodeNo=257&OutLnkChk=Y