The opening date for a new offshore airport to be built on Gadeok Island has been pushed up to December 2029 in hopes of accommodating a successful bid by Busan to host the 2030 World Expo.

In an interim meeting on the airport project held on Tuesday, the transport ministry said a basic plan will be drafted and announced by the year's end to ensure that ground can be broken in late 2024 with the goal of opening the airport by the end of 2029.

In a previous feasibility survey,  the construction period was estimated at over nine years with a completion date in 2035.

In order to save costs and shorten construction time, the ministry decided to build the airport across land and sea using a reclamation method, with an estimated price tag of some 13-point-seven trillion won, or nearly ten-point-five billion U.S. dollars.