A Korean Air passenger jet receives a container of a COVID-19 vaccine ingredient at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, to head to Amsterdam, in this photo provided by the airline on Dec. 9, 2020.
SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to South Korea, has handled more than 50 million tons of cargo since its opening 20 years ago, its operator said Tuesday.
The cumulative amount of cargo handled at the airport, west of Seoul, exceeded the 50 million ton mark last Tuesday as a Korean Air plane transported 70 tons of cargo to Atlanta, according to the Incheon International Airport Corp. and the land ministry.
The airport’s cumulative cargo handling topped 10 million tons in 2006, 20 million tons in 2010, 30 million tons in 2014 and 40 million tons in 2018.
The value of goods exported and imported via Incheon International Airport for the past two decades is estimated at some US$15 trillion, or some nine times South Korea’s gross domestic product in 2020.
Exports and imports handled at the airport amounted to nearly 34 percent of last year’s total trade value as it handled high-price products, such as semiconductors and medicines.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Incheon International Airport’s cargo handling jumped 23 percent on-year to 1.62 million tons in the first half of the year, with the full-year amount likely to top 3 million tons for the first time since its launch.
The land ministry said rising cargo handling would help cement Incheon International Airport’s status as one of the world’s three major cargo airports together with Hong Kong International Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
The ministry said it will seek to further expand Incheon International Airport’s cargo-handling capacity to help it evolve as a logistics hub in Northeast Asia.
(Yonhap)
