Incheon airport braces for record foreign arrivals, with up to 60,000 expected per day
Travelers crowd the departure floor at Incheon International Airport, July 22. Yonhap
More than 50,000 foreign nationals are expected to enter Korea through Incheon International Airport each day from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, around China's National Day holiday on Oct. 1, prompting immigration authorities to activate emergency measures.
According to the Incheon Airport Immigration Office under the Ministry of Justice, Thursday, between 198,000 and 220,000 foreign nationals are expected to enter the country through Incheon International Airport over the four-day period. That translates to an average of 49,500 to 55,000 arrivals per day, well above the daily average of 45,640 recorded from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 last year.
The number of foreign arrivals is expected to reach as many as 60,000 on Oct. 2, ahead of the weekend. That would slightly exceed this year's record high of 59,000 foreign arrivals in a single day.
In response, the Incheon Airport Immigration Office will implement emergency measures for four days starting Sept. 30. The number of immigration officers assigned to arrival halls will be increased to 188, up from 128 during normal operations and 166 during special measures periods such as holiday seasons. The number of officers handling departures will also increase from 38 to 54.
Departure halls will also open earlier for 12 days from Sept. 30 through Oct. 11, the final day of the Hangeul Day holiday period. Departure halls No. 2 and No. 4 at Terminal 1 will open 30 minutes earlier than usual, at 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m., respectively. Departure Hall No. 2 at Terminal 2 will also open early at 5 a.m.
The Incheon Airport Immigration Office will also implement special measures during the Chuseok holiday period from Sept. 24 to 27, when daily passenger traffic is forecast to reach a peak of 245,318 on Sept. 27, including an increase in immigration staffing.
Kim Jeong-do, head of the Incheon Airport Immigration Office, said the agency would adjust employees' commuting schedules and deploy personnel from nonscreening departments, including document inspection, to immigration screening duties to prevent staffing gaps.
"We will also increase the number of supervisors in immigration halls and strengthen advance monitoring of foreign nationals to prevent congestion," Kim said.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.