Incheon International Airport Corporation trained 20 senior executives and department heads from China’s Hunan Airport Group during an intensive, week-long management program held from September 14 to 21, 2026, according to reports from Incheon Today and Kiho Ilbo. The customized paid training initiative is designed to expand Incheon’s aviation education footprint across the Greater China region.
Hunan Airport Group Executives Attend Customized Training
The delegation from Hunan Airport Group—which manages key facilities including Changsha Huanghua International Airport, Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport, and Changde Taohuayuan Airport—traveled to South Korea specifically to benchmark Incheon’s operational frameworks and smart airport technologies, according to Incheon Today. The high-level group included Zhang Mingliang, Vice President of Hunan Airport Group, and Chang Shijuan, Airport Manager of Changsha Huanghua International Airport.
According to Kiho Ilbo, the curriculum spanned 10 core operational and strategic fields. These included overall airport operations and management strategy, customer experience and service, digital transformation, smart services, aviation marketing strategy, airport construction and development planning, surrounding area development, airside operations, urban air mobility (UAM), and aviation security.
Hands-On Field Inspections at Incheon Facilities
In addition to classroom lectures hosted at the Incheon International Airport Corporation Aviation Academy, participants conducted extensive field inspections across critical airport infrastructure. According to Incheon Today, the delegation toured smart check-in counters, the Integrated Operations Center (IOC), the Baggage Operations Center (BOC), and air traffic control facilities to observe how digital systems function in a live, high-volume environment.
The timing of the training coincides with several operational milestones for Incheon International Airport. As reported by Incheon Today, the airport secured top ranking for international passenger traffic globally in the first half of 2026, reached a cumulative passenger milestone of 누적여객 10억명 in July 2026, and achieved its fifth top-tier rating under the Airports Council International (ACI) Customer Experience Accreditation program in September 2026.
Expanding Global Aviation Education Outreach
The program underscores Incheon’s broader commercial strategy of packaging its operational expertise into marketable educational modules. According to Kiho Ilbo, Incheon International Airport Corporation has accumulated extensive overseas infrastructure experience spanning 46 projects across 18 countries, resulting in cumulative contract wins valued at 6억1천953만 달러.
Complementing these traditional construction and management projects, the corporation operates a dedicated global training initiative. To date, Incheon has provided paid and unpaid aviation training programs to 1만2천210명의 해외 항공 종사자를 대상으로 across 165 countries, according to Incheon Today.
At the program’s closing ceremony on September 21, 2026, Shin Gayun, Management Director of Incheon International Airport Corporation, presented certificates to the visiting executives and discussed pathways for ongoing cooperation in airport management and professional training. Zhang Mingliang, Vice President of Hunan Airport Group, stated in source reports that the delegation plans to actively apply the insights gained to operations across Hunan province’s airports while maintaining long-term institutional ties with Incheon.
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