South Korea’s Gimpo International Airport opens its refurbished domestic terminal on Wednesday, after undergoing a 10-year makeover to better accommodate the growing number of domestic flight passengers.

Built in 1980, Gimpo Airport served as Korea’s main gateway until the opening of Incheon International Airport in 2001. It now focuses on domestic flights and operates only five international routes in Japan, Taiwan and China.

Renovation for the domestic terminal started in 2009 to renew the aged facilities and better service the surge in domestic flights with the rise in the number of low-cost carriers. The existing terminal area has also been expanded by 10,605 square meters to a total space of 88,443 square meters.

Various facilities have been added to the new terminal to speed up the boarding process. With the introduction of new baggage drop systems, processing time has been shortened by one-third to five minutes. Security checkpoints have also been expanded from 10 to 14 and jet bridges from nine to 12.

By Yeon Gyu-wook and Kim Hyo-jin

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