Since changing the mode of customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) inspections at its freight terminals in June last year, South Korea’s Incheon Airport has reported a huge increase in cargo throughput moving via its facilities, accordingto a local media report.

The report said that another change that had helped increase the cargo load was that cargo plane pilots and crew no longer needed to make the detour to the passenger terminals.

Once ranked third in the world, Incheon airport now ranks second, overtaking Tokyo’s Narita Airport. The airport on Tuesday said it handled 2.31 million tonnes of cargo last year, up about 9 percent from the previous year, overtaking Narita (2.23 million tonnes) for the fi rst time.

Incheon is determined to overtake Hong Kong, the current leader, by 2015. Last year, Hong Kong International Airport reported handling 3.58 million tonnes of cargo, up 5.2 percent over 2005.