A Seoul court put the brakes on construction of a new airport in the southwestern region of Saemangeum, siding with regional residents and environmental groups calling for a cancellation of a related plan.

In its ruling on Thursday, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of some one-thousand-300 citizens with a group campaigning to nullify the airport construction in a suit filed against the transport ministry.

The court called for the ministry to cancel the construction, as the plan is deemed illegal after it failed to compare and review the risk of aircraft collision with birds when selecting the location and deliberately scaled down the level of danger.

The court apparently placed more weight on public interests than on the potential damage to private individuals.

The project involves building a new international airport by 2028 over land spanning two-point-06 million square meters in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province.