Incheon airport hits quarterly record high in number of int’l travelers

An aerial view of Incheon International Airport / Courtesy of Incheon International Airport Corp.

Incheon International Airport, the country’s largest international air transport hub, saw more than 18.6 million international passengers in the first quarter of this year, the highest quarterly figure since the airport began operations in 2001, the airport’s operator said Wednesday.

The figure is a 7.8 percent increase from 17.2 million in the same period last year, the Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) announced at a press briefing at the airport.

Notably, the increase is driven by China's temporary visa exemption for Korean nationals introduced in November last year. As a result, travelers between the two countries showed the greatest gains among international routes at 24.1 percent this quarter compared to the same period last year and was 14.3 percent of the total international travelers, according to the IIAC.

Flights between Korea and neighboring Japan and Northeastern Asian countries also reflected growing travel demands, showing 10.4 percent and 16.1 percent growth in passenger volumes during the same period, respectively.

While full-scale carriers saw an overall increase in travelers with an 11.3 percent jump compared to the first quarter last year, the figure for budget carriers was relatively lower at 2.6 percent.

The difference seems to be rooted in a decrease in the number of travelers using Jeju Air, a domestic budget carrier that had a fatal plane crash in December at Muan International Airport, the IIAC explained.

Overall, the airport expects to receive some 73 million to 76.6 million international travelers this year.

Meanwhile, plans are underway to alleviate congestion and check-in delays during the upcoming weeklong holiday in May. The government has set May 6 as a temporary statutory holiday to give people the option to take a weeklong break, including May 1, which is Labor Day, and May 5, which is Children’s Day.

Passengers line up for departure at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport in this Jan. 26 photo. Newsis

The move comes amid mounting complaints in recent months over congestion at its departure security checkpoints during peak travel hours and seasons, especially during the Lunar New Year holiday.

A record high of 2.19 million passengers traveled via the Incheon airport during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday in January. The airport saw a daily average of 219,000 passengers during the period, up 15.4 percent from 189,000 passengers during last year’s Lunar New Year holiday and 8.4 percent higher than the pre-pandemic record of 202,000 for the annual holiday season.

“The airport expects to receive a daily average of 211,000 passengers during the May holiday that falls between April and May 6, with the peak on Saturday, May 3, of 218,000 passengers,” an airport official said.

In response, the airport plans to take comprehensive measures to alleviate congestion during peak travel periods, such as deploying temporary security staff, increasing the operational hours of departure halls and expanding biometric identification system and baggage self-drop services.

The airport also plans to consider increasing the hiring of aviation security personnel and providing them with customized education programs to enhance their expertise.