What is it about North Asia countries building airports nobody will fly to.

On the afternoon of Feb. 2, cold winds swept into the passenger terminal of Yangyang International Airport in Gangwon Province, where not a single passenger could be seen. In fact, the airport has been deserted for the 99 days since the arrival of its last chartered flight, a Korean Air carrier returning from Japan, on Nov. 1.

Yangyang Airport was granted a budget of W356.7 billion (US$1=W1,378) in April 2002 with a view to establishing itself as a tourism hub in the eastern Gangwon region.

But due to decreasing numbers of passengers, the airport posted deficits of more than W10 billion for three consecutive years — W12.9 billion in 2006, W10.6 billion in 2007, and W10.1 billion in 2008. Some blamed incompetent planning and administration, which failed to consider potential environmental changes, including the expansion of nearby expressways.

In 2008, a daily average of 26 passengers used the airport. In contrast, up to 146 airport staff were there to service them.-Chosunilbo

That means if you were trying to find the bathroom, 5.5 people could show you the way. That is a wonderful case of efficiency.

In Japan, Ibaraki Airport is being built at cost of over half billion dollars. Ibaraki is even further away from Tokyo than Narita and has no train service. There are even no airlines planning to fly there. Nikita Khrushchev would have been so proud of the people who pushed the Ibaraki Airport project. Politicians really are the same all over. They build airports without airlines to fly to it.