Incheon Airport has ranked first in international passenger traffic among 1,234 airports worldwide.
However, that site was a tidal flat 30 years ago that was said to be "sinking."
How did an airport built by reclaiming land from the sea, defying opposition from Seoul National University professors and environmental groups, manage to surpass the world's most famous airports? 00:00 The 1 billionth passenger was Japanese
00:52 In 1989, there were more people seeing off passengers than passengers
02:58 The plan to fill in tidal flats to lay a runway
04:51 The doors opened, and it was ranked 10th in the world
07:35 The 7 hours Narita put out the fire
12:10 Went to Fukuoka, not Tokyo
16:58 The reason the land for the runway was filled in in advance
19:22 What happened when the skies over Dubai closed
#IncheonAirport #TransitAirport #HeathrowAirport #NaritaAirport #KoreaEconomy #OjirapEconomy
Parts of this video were produced using AI technology.
🔗 Sources
Airport Council International (ACI) — Global airport international passenger performance for the first half of 2026
Incheon International Airport Corporation — Achieved 1 billion cumulative passengers (July 7, 2026)
Incheon International Airport Corporation — Transit passengers for the first half of 2026 Performance
Narita International Airport — Transit Passenger Ratio Statistics
Heathrow Airport — Submission of Third Runway Expansion Plan (July 2025)
Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport Relocation Plan
Incheon Airport has ranked first in international passenger traffic among 1,234 airports worldwide.
However, that site was a tidal flat 30 years ago that was said to be "sinking."
How did an airport built by reclaiming land from the sea, defying opposition from Seoul National University professors and environmental groups, manage to surpass the world's most famous airports? 00:00 The 1 billionth passenger was Japanese
00:52 In 1989, there were more people seeing off passengers than passengers
02:58 The plan to fill in tidal flats to lay a runway
04:51 The doors opened, and it was ranked 10th in the world
07:35 The 7 hours Narita put out the fire
12:10 Went to Fukuoka, not Tokyo
16:58 The reason the land for the runway was filled in in advance
19:22 What happened when the skies over Dubai closed
#IncheonAirport #TransitAirport #HeathrowAirport #NaritaAirport #KoreaEconomy #OjirapEconomy
Parts of this video were produced using AI technology.
🔗 Sources
Airport Council International (ACI) — Global airport international passenger performance for the first half of 2026
Incheon International Airport Corporation — Achieved 1 billion cumulative passengers (July 7, 2026)
Incheon International Airport Corporation — Transit passengers for the first half of 2026 Performance
Narita International Airport — Transit Passenger Ratio Statistics
Heathrow Airport — Submission of Third Runway Expansion Plan (July 2025)
Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport Relocation Plan