[See Heinemann Atlas Third Edition, page 146 - Southern Europe (location, map reference C5, between London and Reading)]
Heathrow Airport is one of the busiest in the world. The increasing demands generated by tourist and commercial traffic means that new construction and expansion of existing airport facilities continuously occurs. Recently five international airlines ordered the Airbus A3XX super-jumbo, which is expected to enter service on the world's major air-routes in 2006. Qantas was one of the five companies to place an order. The double-decker plane will be the largest civilian aircraft ever built (there are some military aircraft that are bigger). The Airbus will seat approximately 555 passengers, compared with the average seating capacity of 416 for the present largest plane - the Being 747-400.
The foreshadowed use of these new planes at Heathrow airport means that:
[See Heinemann Atlas Third Edition, pages 129 - Japan, Korea (location, map reference B3) and 131 - China, Korea, Japan (location, map reference M6)]
The new Inchon International Airport, servicing South Korea and in particular the capital Seoul was opened in 2001. It is located approximately 50 kilometres from the capital on an area of land reclaimed from the sea. The airport cost $9.1 billion to construct and involved protracted legal cases with the 10,000 local residents who had to be relocated or who were affected in some way by the new airport. Residents of Seoul complained because the old Kimpo International Airport is located more conveniently closer to the capital and they have to travel an extra 30 minutes to reach the airport. The South Korean multi-national corporation Hyundai is in charge of the multi billion-dollar project. The South Koreans are also annoyed that the four-lane dedicated expressway to Inchon, is charging an excessive road toll. (Similar to the reaction of Melbourne residents to the road toll imposed in 2000 on the Citylink Tullamarine tollway to Melbourne's Airport) The airport has been called The Winged City and is predicted to become the world's largest cargo holder within a decade. It is also predicted to become the major aviation hub for North-East Asia - tens of millions of Chinese and Japanese will use Inchon as a transit point. It is planned that another two runways and four concourses will be built in a multi-phase plan up to 2020. If the predictions are correct 100 million passengers could land each year at the airport for the next two decades.
