Incheon International Airport (
IATA: ICN,
ICAO: RKSI) is the main
international airport serving
Seoul, the capital of
South Korea. It is also one of the largest and busiest airports in the world.
As of 2021, the airport has been rated by
Skytrax as the fourth-best airport in the world. Skytrax has also rated the airport as the world's
best international transit airport and one of the world's
cleanest airports. The airport is one of Skytrax's 5-star airports and has also been awarded for the best airport security in 2021.[4][5][6][7]
During the entire run of the
best airport worldwide ranking by
Airports Council International (ACI) from 2005 to 2011, Incheon International Airport topped the ranking every year. ACI also rated the airport as the
best airport in Asia-Pacific for 10 consecutive years from 2006 to 2016 until the ranking series ended in 2017.[8] The airport has been ranked first place in the services field, regardless of the COVID-19 term. Incheon International Airport Corporation declared 'COVID-19 Free Airport.' It took the lead in quarantine against the spread of coronavirus. Also, the airport tried to prevent the collapse of the aviation industry during COVID-19. At the same time, despite the huge deficit, a policy of rent reduction and mooring usage fee exemption was implemented to ensure employment stability for 70,000 airport workers.[9]
This airport has a
golf course,
spa,[10] private sleeping rooms, an ice skating rink, a
casino,
indoor gardens, video game center and the
Museum of Korean Culture. The airport's average departure and arrival take 19 minutes and 12 minutes respectively, compared to a worldwide average of 60 minutes and 45 minutes, ranking it among the fastest airports in the world for customs processing.[11] Its duty-free shopping mall has been rated the world's best for three years in a row in 2013 by Business Traveller.[12] Incheon International Airport also reports a 0.0001% baggage mishandling rate.[13]
Incheon International Airport is located west of
Incheon's city center, on an artificially created piece of land between
Yeongjong and Yongyu Islands. A shallow sea originally separated the two islands. That area between the two islands was
reclaimed for the construction project, effectively connecting the once-separate Yeongjong and Yongyu islands. The reclaimed area as well as the two islands are all part of Jung-gu, an administrative district of Incheon. The airport has 111 boarding gates altogether, with 44 in Terminal 1, 30 in Concourse A (connected to Terminal 1), and 37 in Terminal 2.[citation needed]
This airport was constructed to share the demand for air transport in the 21st century and to serve as a hub airport in Northeast Asia.[14]
History
International air traffic to South Korea increased after the
1988 Summer Olympics. In the 1990s, it became apparent that
Gimpo International Airport could not cope with the increase in air traffic. The government decided to build a new international airport to reduce the load on Gimpo International Airport.
The new airport was originally planned to be located in
Cheongju, 124 km (77 mi) southeast of Seoul, but due to its distance, it was opposed by Seoul and Gyeonggi citizens. [citation needed]Hwaseong was the other choice, but it was also rejected due to similar reasons. Finally, the area chosen was
Incheon. [when?]
In November 1992, the construction of the Incheon airport began on reclaimed land between Yeongjong Island and Youngyu Island and took eight years to finish, with an additional six months for testing. Completion was initially scheduled for 1997 but delayed due to
the economic crisis.[15] The airport was officially opened on 21 March 2001.[citation needed]
On 15 November 2006, the
Airbus A380 landed at the airport as part of the first leg of its certification trip.[16] Tests on the runways, taxiways, and ramps showed that the airport could handle the aircraft.
To further upgrade service, Incheon and major Korean logistics firm
Hanjin Group (parent company of
Korean Air) agreed on 10 January 2008 to build Yeongjong Medical Centre, which was completed in 2012. This hospital serves nearby residents and some of the 30,000
medical tourists who come to Korea annually.[17]
Located 48 km (30 mi) west of
Seoul, the capital and the largest city of
South Korea, Incheon International Airport is the main hub for
Korean Air,
Asiana Airlines,
Jeju Air, and
Polar Air Cargo. The airport serves as a hub for international civilian air transportation and cargo traffic in East Asia. In 2016, the Incheon International Airport was the fifth-busiest
airport in the world and
third in Asia by cargo traffic, and
19th in the world and
eighth in Asia by passenger traffic. In 2016, the airport served a total of 57,849,814 passengers.
The airport opened for business in early 2001 to replace the older Gimpo International Airport, which now serves mostly domestic destinations plus shuttle flights to
Beijing–Capital,
Osaka–Kansai,
Shanghai–Hongqiao,
Taipei–Songshan and
Tokyo–Haneda although flights to Beijing and Osaka also operate from Incheon Airport.
Construction phases
The airport was originally planned to be built in three phases, incrementally increasing airport capacity as the demand grew. This was changed, however, to four phases after the airport was opened.
In Phase 1, the airport had a capacity of 30 million passengers annually, and a cargo capacity of 1,700,000 tonnes (1,673,151 long tons; 1,873,929 short tons) annually.[citation needed] In this phase, a passenger terminal with a floor space of 496,000 square metres (5,338,900 sq ft), two parallel runways, a control tower, an administrative building, a transportation Centre (the Integrated Transportation Centre, designed by
Terry Farrell and Partners and
Samoo Architects & Engineers), an integrated operations Centre, three cargo terminals, international business Centre, and a government office building were constructed.[citation needed]
Phase 2
Phase 2 construction began in 2002, and was originally expected to be completed in December 2008. However, in an attempt to have the airport ready for the
2008 Beijing Olympics, which took place in August 2008, the schedule was modified, and Phase 2 construction was completed on 20 June 2008. During this construction phase, a third parallel 4,000-metre-long (13,123 ft 4 in) runway and a 13-hectare (32.1-acre) cargo terminal area was added. A 16.5-hectare (40.8-acre) concourse connected to the main passenger building via two parallel 870-metre-long (2,854 ft 4 in) underground passageways were added, with a
Mitsubishi Crystal Mover shuttle train
APM shuttling passengers between the concourse and the main terminal.[18]
Many long-distance foreign carriers were moved to the new concourse, with Korean Air and Asiana Airlines continuing to use the existing terminal.[citation needed]
Phase 3
The
South Korean government invested
₩4 trillion until 2017 to expand Incheon International Airport. The second passenger terminal was constructed in the northern field of the airport, and its existing cargo terminal and other infrastructures were expanded. The terminals are connected by the underground "Starline" train. Also, a Landside Connecting system (Bus shuttle) is used for airport employees and departing passengers who don't come to the right terminal. After completion, Incheon International Airport can handle 62 million passengers and 5,800,000 tonnes (5,708,398 long tons; 6,393,406 short tons) of cargo a year, up from the previous capacity of 44 million passengers and 4,500,000 tonnes (4,428,929 long tons; 4,960,401 short tons). Construction began in 2011 and was completed in 2017. The terminal opened on 18 January 2018. Incheon's expansion also includes adding more aprons to park planes and extending a railway line to the city center of Seoul about 70 kilometres (43 mi) away from the airport. The airport also signed an agreement to build a resort called "Inspire" which includes 6-star hotels, theme parks, and a casino.[19]
Phase 4
Between 2017 and 2024, a fourth construction phase at the airport is taking place. There will be an expansion of Terminal 2, the building of a fourth runway and additional apron and car parking facilities.[20] Following completion of the works, it is expected that the hourly flight capacity of the airport will increase from 90 to 107.[21]
There are long-term plans for a fifth runway and a third terminal.[22]
Terminals
Terminal 1
Terminal 1 (measuring 496,000 square metres (5,338,900 sq ft)) is the largest
airport terminal in the area in South Korea. Terminal 1 was designed by
Curtis W. Fentress, FAIA, RIBA of
Fentress Architects. It is 1,060 metres (3,480 ft) long, 149 metres (489 ft) wide, and 33 metres (108 ft) high. Its construction cost was 5.632 trillion South Korean Won.[23] The terminal has 44 boarding ports (all of which can accommodate the Airbus A380), 50 customs inspection ports, 2 biological quarantine counters, 6 stationary and 14 portable passenger quarantine counters, 120 arrival passport inspection counters, 8 arrival security ports, 28 departure security ports, 252 check-in counters, and 120 departure passport inspection counters. In 2015, an automatic check-in counter lane was introduced, which people travelling via
Korean Air,
Asiana Airlines and
China Southern Airlines can use. Instead of having airport staff at the counter, there is a machine where travellers input their flight information, scan their passports, receive their flight tickets and lastly, load the luggage onto the conveyor. This system was planned to be introduced in Terminal 2, but in May 2015 Incheon Airport used one of the counter islands for the unmanned luggage handling system.[24]
The passenger concourse was completed at the end of May 2008. It is connected to Terminal 1 by two parallel 870-metre-long (2,850 ft) underground passageways equipped with IATs (Intra Airport Transit). It has 30 gates and six lounges.[27]
On 16 June 2011,
Airbus A321-200 Flight 324 operated by
Asiana Airlines HL7763 between
Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, China and Incheon International Airport was fired upon by two soldiers of the
Republic of Korea Marine Corps as it came in to land at Incheon. A total of 99 rounds were discharged at the aircraft, which was out of range and made a safe landing without sustaining any damage. The soldiers had misidentified the aircraft as belonging to the North Korean military and were acting on orders that permitted them to engage without reference to senior officers, following the
Bombardment of Yeonpyeong in November 2010.[181]
Ground transport
Public transport
Bus
Airport shuttle buses transport passengers between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Buses are free, arrive every 5 to 8 minutes, take approximately 20 minutes of travel time, and stop at the Hyatt Hotel or airport fire station en route, depending on direction.
Airport buses are called limousine buses. Standard limousine buses travel to Gimpo Airport &
Songjeong station.
Intercity buses connect with other towns and cities in Korea.
The
Korea Train eXpress (KTX) operated at the same station as AREX but used a different platform. It operated 20 times per day from the airport; twelve times on the
Gyeonbu Line, twice on the
Gyeonjeon Line, four times on the
Honam Line, and twice on the
Jeolla Line. The service started in 2014 but was suspended in March 2018 due to low ridership.[183] The suspension became permanent in September 2018 as the line was officially closed.[184][185]
The
Incheon Airport Maglev opened on 3 February 2016 and closed on 1 September, 2023.[186] The first phase was to be 6.1 km long, spread over six stations (but eight stations were built, spanning more than 8 km), taking riders from the airport toward the southwest of the island where a water park is located. Phase 2 was to be 9.7 km long, extending the line to the northwest of the island. Phase 3 would have added 37.4 km, transforming the line into a circle.[187][188][189] After converting the tracks from Maglev to orbital tram tracks,[190] service is expected to resume from March 2024.[191]
Ferry
A ferry service connects Yeongjong-do to the mainland. However, the dock is located a considerable distance from the airport. An alternative means of transport must be sought upon arriving at the island to be able to get to the airport.[192]
Car
The airport provides a short-term parking lot for 4,000 cars and a long-term parking lot for 6,000 cars. Shuttle services connect the long-term parking lot to the passenger terminal and the cargo terminal. Car rental is located near the long-term parking lot. A link to the mainland is provided by the toll
Yeongjong Bridge and an
expressway. A second expressway on the
Incheon Bridge also connects the island to central
Incheon.
Traffic and statistics
In 2017, the airport was the world's fourth busiest airport by cargo traffic and third in Asia,[193] and the world's 19th busiest airport by passenger traffic and ninth in Asia.[194] In 2019, the airport served a total of 70,857,908 passengers.
^"에어서울, 인천~중국 장자제 직항편 3년 만에 운항 재개" [Air Seoul, resumes direct flights from Incheon to China for the first time in three years]. ChosunBiz (in Korean). Retrieved 28 April 2023.
^"이스타항공, 7월 19일부터 인천∼푸꾸옥 매일 운항" [Eastar Jet, begins Incheon ~ Phu Quoc from 19 July with daily operation] (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. 4 April 2024.
^
abc"인천공항공사, 국내 최초로 저비용 항공사 화물기 유치" [Incheon International Airport Corporation Will Be the First Low-Cost Cargo Carrier in Korea] (in Korean). Segye News. 21 June 2022.
^Medimorec, Nikola (10 June 2018).
"Incheon Airport KTX Service Suspended". Kojects.
Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2018. In 2014, Korail began to offer KTX high-speed train connections from Incheon International Airport to Seoul, Daegu, Busan and other cities in Korea. The Incheon Airport KTX service was suspended now at the end of March 2018. The main reason was that the demand was too low and ridership stayed far below necessary numbers.
^박, 재균 (7 August 2018).
"9월부터 인천공항 KTX 노선 폐지". FNToday (in Korean).
Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
^민, 경석 (7 August 2018).
"2014년 개통한 '인천공항 KTX' 폐지". News1 (in Korean).
Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
^Medimorec, Nikola (28 January 2012).
"Maglev at Incheon International Airport to be completed this year". Kojects.
Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2018. Two more stages of construction are planned for the line; stage two is a 9.7 km extension that continues from Yongyoo Station, past the planned Marine World and up to Dragon City. Though this stage was originally scheduled to be completed in time for the Asian Games, setbacks in the development of neighboring projects are still causing delays. The final stage will be significantly longer, a 37.4 km extension that continues around the outer rim of the island and loops back to the airport.
^Han, Woojin.
"영종자기부상열차 2단계". 미래철도DB (in Korean).
Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2018.