Daedo Capital International Airport

Daedo Capital International Airport (Seomun: 大都首都國際空港, Jinmun: 대도수도국제공항, : DCX, : ZEDC), formerly referred to as the Shin Daedo International Airport (Seomun: 新大都國際空港, Jinmun: 신대도국제공항) and alternately as the Daedo Daeseong International Airport (Seomun: 大都大聖國際空港, Jinmun: 대도대성국제공항), is the primary  of Daedo. Located in the southwestern edge of the Seoan-gu district of Daedo, it is situated about 42 kilometers southwest from the city's Sudo-gu district and 26 kilometres south of Shin Daedo, while the airport itself is built on reclaimed land between the mainland and Seongsu Island. Named after its significance as the main gateway of the capital city, it is the largest airport in Zhenia, as well as one of the busiest airports in the world.

Currently serving the metropolitan area around the nation's capital as well as parts of Chungmu Province, Daedo Capital International Airport was built to replace the overcrowded Jinpo International Airport in northwestern Daedo. Since its opening on May 1, 1587 AC, the two airports are set to operate in tandem as international hubs, although most commercial flights have relocated to the new airport upon its opening. After the opening of Daedo Capital International Airport, the pre-existing Jinpo Airport has since been hosting an array of domestic flights as well as international shuttle flights throughout major metropolitan centers in East Tarsis, including Bukit Singa and Tianjing. As the city's primary international hub, the airport has initiated a three-phase expansion plan to increase its capacity: Terminal 2, the second phase and most recent addition to the airport as of 1610 AC, has opened on April 1, 1608, while the third phase, which is set to include the construction of a third terminal east of the first two terminals and additional runways, is expected to be completed by 1620.

Today, Daedo Capital International Airport is the single largest and busiest airport in the nation, serving over 107 million passengers and processing over 1 million tonnes of cargo in 1609 AC alone. It ranks first among the nation's airports for international traffic, with over 46 million international passengers, including transfer passengers, using the airport in 2019. Its significance has also made it the and  for more airlines than any other airport in the nation, including it being the only primary hub for both Zhenian Airways and Air Zhenia. Along with Shin Jinhae International Airport, it is one of the two Zhenian airports offering direct flights to all six continents of the world as of 1610.

Initial construction


In the later half of the 16th century AC, Jinpo International Airport, located on the northwestern coasts of the city, began to reach its designed capacity limits, as Zhenian aviation demand, both domestic and international, skyrocketed. Being situated close to the relatively built-up Jinpo-gu district of Daedo and its runways directly facing the Gulf of Danguk, it had limited room for further expansion after its latest direct expansion was completed during the later days of the Third Republic. While it had become one of the busiest airports in Tarsis amid Zhenia's economic resurgence and increased ties with the international community, it was an old airport that was built in 1525 AC, while its passenger and cargo demands that well exceeded its designed capacity meant that it was plagued with frequent delays due to the lack of space for aircraft and gates. Its absurd 18R circling approach route, as well as various noise mitigation measures due to the existence of residential areas in Jinpo-gu, restricted the departure and landing of flights between 23:00 and 06:00.

Amid such circumstances, proposals to build a replacement to Jinpo International Airport surfaced well before the November Revolution, although actual preliminary studies regarding a new airport did not commence until 1570. Studies carried out by the Jungchuwon concluded that many of the problems that plagued Jinpo Airport at the time, including noise pollution, the restriction of nighttime flights and airport congestion, will not be permanently solved unless a new airport with comparable accessibility for its users was built. In addition, the same studies also clarified the requirements of the new airport, including adequate distance from the congested urban areas of the city, multiple parallel runways that would allow for round-the-clock operation of multiple runways, often at the same time. With this in mind, the Daedo Metropolitan Government, in cooperation with the Daedo Capital Transport Authority, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Territories and Transportation, came to consider three possible candidates - one included a site that was around 65 kilometers north of Daedo's city center and in central Chungmu Province, near the midpoint between Daedo and Arisu; one included the construction of the airport in the Danbon Estuaries; a third proposal involved an airport built upon reclaimed land southwest of Daedo, around Seoan-gu district. The current site of Daedo Capital International Airport was decided as the winning proposal in 1573 AC, scoring higher than other proposals in terms of round-the-clock operation capability, minimization of environmental impact and of land reparation costs and its impact to the Shin Daedo New Town project that was underway in the city's western coast.



By the end of 1575, designs for the airport had been finalized, with the master plan including the construction of three terminals, three concourses and a total of seven runways. Plans for the airport were expected to be completed over four phases, with the airport adding concourses, terminals and runways in each phase according to projected aviation demand. The entire airport would be built on flattened and between Seongsu Island and the mainland component of Seoan-gu district: around 13.44 km2 of land was expected to be reclaimed directly from the Gulf, while a significant portion of the island itself was also expected to be flattened out to make room for the airport's expansion. Construction of the airport, which included not only the airport itself but also the accompanying access roads, rail, associated bridges, tunnels and airport new towns, commenced on September 28, 1576 AC.



The initial phase of the airport, which included Terminal 1 and two accompanying runways, opened on May 1, 1587. The first flights that landed on the new airport were a Zhenian Airways Flight 3386 from Shin Jinhae International Airport and a Air Zhenia Flight 154 from Monitava-Vourane International Airport, both of which landed simultaneously on 5:50 AM the day the airport opened, while the first flight that departed the airport was a Zhenian Airways Flight 1569 for Changan International Airport, departing from the airport on 7:10 AM. Over the two days that included the morning of the day the airport opened, the last-minute quest to move materials, vehicles and aircraft from the existing Jinpo Airport to the new airport was underway overnight. In the process, two Zhenian Airways Cargo freighter aircraft shuttled between Jinpo and the new airport several times overnight, transporting around 2,500 metric tons worth of cargo as the airport opened.

Phase 1 expansion
Phases of the airport's expansions have been counted separately from the initial construction of the airport, which involved the completion of Terminal 1 and two accompanying runways. Thus, the Phase 1 expansion refers to the construction of the two concourses - known today as Concourses A and B - as well as the construction of a third runway adjacent to the first two, expansion of the cargo and MRO facilities. The construction of the concourses was done from south to north, with the southern concourse, Concourse A, opening in 1592 and Concourse B, to the north of Concourse A, opening in 1597, in response to the 1598 Daedo World Expo. The two concourses each added 44 more gates - 17 of which were capable of fitting larger wide-body aircraft such as the - to the airport. The two concourses have been joined by the DCX Air Shuttle, an underground shuttle train network that initially connected the two concourses with the existing Terminal 1.

Phase 2 expansion


The Phase 2 expansion of the airport was focused on increasing the overall efficiency and capacity of the airport, while sustainably maintaining potential for a future Phase 3 expansion. Completed in 1607, it included the construction of Terminal 2 north of the two concourses included in the Phase 1 expansion, as well as the addition of a fourth runway to the east and further development of nearby assets into the airport. The construction of a second terminal marked a milestone change to the airport, adding over 80 gates and increasing the airport's passenger processing capacity by around 31 percent. The DCX Air Shuttle has been extended to Terminal 2 in the process, thus completing the linear underground transit network within the airport linking the terminals.

Phase 3 expansion
The Phase 3 expansion, expected to be complete by 1625, is set to include the construction of a new Terminal 3 to the east of Terminal 1, as well as the addition of runways, thus ultimately expanding the airport into a six-runway airport with a passenger processing capacity of around 140 million. Built with input from Worldway airlines, most notably Air Zhenia, Terminal 3 is expected to allocate some of the gates to Worldway, although the airport has so far maintained that Terminal 3 will be allocated to budget airlines using the airport.

Terminal 1
Terminal 1, also dubbed the South Terminal due to its relative location in the project, is the first and original terminal of the airport.

Concourse A
Concourse A, alternately referred to as the Southern Concourse due to its relative location to Concourse B, was added to the airport in 1592, five years before Concourse B.

In the operation of both concourses A and B, the airport has more or less maintained flexibility in how the gates in each concourse are allocated; Concourse A, in particular, is normally allocated to non-alliance airlines and, although there have been cases in which Worldway airlines have been allocated gates in the concourse.

Concourse B
Concourse B, alternately referred to as the Northern Concourse due to its relative location, was added to the airport in 1597, in preparation for the 1598 Daedo World Expo. Thus, it is unofficially referred to as the Expo Concourse.

Terminal 2
Terminal 2, also known as the North Terminal in relation to Terminal 1 in the south, is the primary component of the airport's Phase 2 expansion in response to increased demands.

Upon completion, the entirety of Terminal 2 has been allocated to SkyLeague airlines, mainly Zhenian Airways and its affiliates.

Rail
Daedo Capital International Airport is directly served by the Daedo Metro via Lines 4 and 8, as well as both lines of the Daedo Airport Express, all of which link the airport directly to city center in varying speeds and fares. While both lines of the Daedo Metro terminate in the Integrated Transportation Center, located directly south of Terminal 1, the two lines of the Daedo Airport Express extend directly to Terminal 2's transportation center. The Integrated Transportation Center serves as the major rail gateway to the airport itself, while also being an intermodal transit hub for other modes of getting to and from the airport.

In 1594, the Zhenia National Railway Company announced plans of extending ZNX services in the Northeast and Trans Danguk Lines directly from Daedo Central Station, with around 36 ZNX trains directly terminating in the station, in preparation for the 1598 Daedo Expo and amid concerns of the airport's accessibility from throughout the Danguk Peninsula. Sharing tracks with the Daedo Airport Express, ZNX extension to the airport began in 1597. Amid efficiency concerns, however, the number of ZNX trains serving the airport decreased from 36 to 28 since 1605, in response to the increase in the frequency of direct Daedo Airport Express services between Daedo South Station and the airport.

Within the airport, the underground DCX Air Shuttle connects both terminals and concourses that lie in between, significantly improving accessibility between the terminals' airside and the gates at the concourse. The Air Shuttle is expected to extend alongside expansions of the airport, with a future Air Shuttle station for Terminal 3 planned to open alongside the completion of the airport's Phase 3 expansion in 1625.