South Korea will build its first “floating airport” off Gadeok Island in Busan, an effort the government hopes to expedite to complete construction by 2035. 

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on Tuesday that a 13-point-seven-trillion-won construction plan for the new airport was passed at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day.

The airport will be classified as a national policy project as the ministry seeks to qualify for an exemption from a preliminary feasibility review to accelerate the construction. The finance ministry will decide within this month whether the government can bypass the review.

The land ministry says a floating offshore structure was selected after considering how noise pollution could affect nearby areas as well as the possibility of expanding the airport in the future.

Factoring in accessibility from Korea's major cities, domestic flights will continue to be operated at Gimhae International Airport, also located in Busan, while only international flights are expected to operate out of the new airport.

Some 23 million passengers are projected to use the new airport by 2065.