South Korea’s Incheon airport hits 1 billion passengers in record-breaking time
The airport crossed the mark just 25 years and three months after its opening in March 2001 – outpacing all historic rival global hubs
According to Incheon International Airport Corp (IIAC), the airport crossed the 1 billion passenger mark just 25 years and three months after its opening in March 2001, outpacing all historic rival global hubs.
Germany’s Munich Airport required 33 years and 10 months to hit the same metric, while Singapore’s Changi Airport took 35 years and five months. Japan’s Narita International Airport reached the milestone in 39 years and two months, and Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates required 58 years and two months.
For context, 1 billion passengers translates to an average of 108,000 travellers daily since the airport’s launch – or 4,513 passengers per hour and around 75 passengers every minute. This is equivalent to one out of every eight people on Earth having used the airport, or that every South Korean has travelled through the gateway roughly 19 times.
To commemorate the milestone, the IIAC held an official ceremony on Tuesday at the airport’s Terminal 2. The event was attended by IIAC’s acting President Kim Bum-ho and senior executives from Korean Air.