Politicians pitch new airports while existing ones lose money

The nation’s regional airports are expected to become a major election issue once again, with politicians attempting to drum up support ahead of the April 10 general elections by proposing new locations for air travel hubs outside the capital in order to stimulate regional economies.

But critics find the pledges to be worrisome, as most airports across the country have been suffering from chronic losses due to a lack of travelers after they were built recklessly in the name of balanced economic development.

“I wonder whether the political parties are serious about wooing voters with airport-related promises after learning the airports are far from profitable, but financially burdensome for local governments,” said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.

He was referring to pledges for the construction of at least nine new airports.

The sites for the nine airports are in Gyeonggi Province, Busan’s Gadeok Island, Jeju Island, North Jeolla Province’s Saemangeum land reclamation site, North Gyeongsang Province, Ulleung Island, South Jeolla Province’s Heuksan Island, Incheon’s Baengnyeong Island and South Chungcheong Province.

For example, Lee Kyung-yong, who is preparing for a parliamentary bid with the ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Jeju Island, said he would “immediately focus on the construction of a new airport there if elected.”

Potential nominees, such as Lee Jae-man of the PPP in Daegu and Park Kyun-taek of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea in Gwangju, have made similar promises to construct new airports in those regions as part of their election platforms.

Their promises came as Korea Airports Corp. reported that 11 of the 14 airports that it manages posted losses for the past five years.

The 11 include Yangyang International Airport in Gangwon Province and Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province.

The Gangwon provincial government has been spending more than 30 billion won ($22.44 million) annually to cover financial losses incurred by Yangyang airport due to the suspended operations of both domestic and international flights.

Muan airport’s losses amounted to over 100 billion won over the past five years.

“Easy accessibility, sufficient means of transportation and travel demand are possibly most-prioritized prerequisites to build an airport, and unfortunately, none of the 11 failing airports satisfy these conditions,” an employee of one domestic airline said on condition of anonymity.

The worker also argued that plans to attract travelers from overseas as addressed in some pledges will “inevitably fail.”