Incheon airport foresees full recovery from pandemic next year

Incheon International Airport, the country’s largest and busiest international air transport hub, expects to see a full-scale recovery in the number of air passengers to pre-pandemic levels next year, Incheon International Airport Corp. said, Wednesday. “The airport has gone through difficult times during the COVID-19 pandemic, but airport operations are back to normal … The number of air passengers has recovered at around 80% of 2019's number and we expect a complete recovery next year, which is a year earlier than the initial forecast,” IIAC President Lee Hag-jae said during a press conference at the company headquarters in Incheon. By the end of the year, the company predicts around 56m air passengers will use the airport, which is a 213.1% jump from last year and a recovery of 78.6% of the 2019 figure. The increase is due to soaring air travel demand from and to neighboring Japan and Southeast Asian countries followed by an international rebound in overseas travel, the company explained. Next year, the airport expects to receive 67.5m to 71m air passengers, which is nearly equivalent to or slightly over pre-pandemic levels. Amid the global economic recession and worsening semiconductor industry, the airport expects a 6.9% decrease in cargo transport at 2.7m tons this year. However, the figure was on a gradual upswing in the latter half of the year, according to IIAC. Following this momentum, the company is optimistic about a turnaround in net profit for the first time in three years — by the end of the year. The company expects its annual turnover will reach 2.1t won ($1.6b) with a net profit of around 380b won, which is a 132% and 72% increase from last year, respectively.<br/>