It took nearly an hour just to check the bags.
At 6:40 a.m. on the 20th at Asiana Airlines' check-in counter in Terminal 2 (T2) of Incheon International Airport. Cho Chang-yeon, met here, said, "Since Asiana Airlines moved to T2, the number of passengers has surged, the airport has become crowded, and inconveniences have increased." Cho, who works as a guide at a travel agency, said he visits Incheon Airport three or four times a month.
Six days have passed since Asiana Airlines transferred to T2 on the 14th. On the day of the transfer, Incheon International Airport Corp. deployed additional personnel to T2 to handle tasks such as security screening, making it hard to feel any congestion. But at T2 during the rush hours that day, you could see people complaining of discomfort in many places due to the crush of users and a shortage of staff.
At airports, 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. is typically considered the "rush hour." That is because flights departing Incheon Airport begin operating after 6 a.m., drawing passengers who aim to depart around that time.
According to Incheon International Airport Corp., the number of passengers who departed from T2 between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. that day was 12,364. Twenty-eight percent of all passengers departing from T2 that day (44,803) used flights during that time frame.
Around 6 a.m. that day, more than 100 passengers were lined up outside the queue at Asiana Airlines' dedicated automated baggage drop (self bag drop) counter in Zone G at T2, waiting their turn. Zone H, where general customers and passengers with oversize baggage can check in and drop bags, was also packed with passengers filling the queue lines.
One passenger complained, "It seems it took more than twice as long to complete departure formalities than when using Korean Air Lines."
At the same time, Korean Air Lines' check-in counters looked relatively quiet compared with Asiana Airlines. A couple in their 50s departing for Taipei on Korean Air Lines that morning said, "It took about 20 minutes to drop our bags."
Korean Air Lines operated 22 outbound flights between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. that day. Although it sent out twice as many flights as Asiana Airlines (11) during the same period, processing moved quickly.
This appears to be because Korean Air Lines operates a larger number of self bag drop counters than Asiana Airlines. Having established itself in T2 since 2018, Korean Air Lines currently operates 43 self bag drop counters.
Asiana Airlines, which recently moved over, is operating only 16. When it used Terminal 1 (T1), Asiana Airlines operated 28 self bag drop counters. Incheon International Airport Corp. had planned to install self bag drop counters in Row H in line with Asiana Airlines' transfer, but due to scheduling delays it plans to replace them by the end of April.
Asiana Airlines said, "If we replace Row H, currently operated as a staffed check-in counter, with self bag drop counters, we will operate self bag drop at a total of 32 locations," adding, "We will work with the airport corporation to improve conditions."
Many airport users also said it had become harder to use T2's parking lots that day. The T2 short-term parking lot (a total of 2,819 spaces excluding season passes), which showed 582 available spaces on the display board at 6:30 a.m., saw available spaces plunge to 41 by 11:30 a.m.
The long-term parking lot (a total of 9,295 spaces), which requires taking a shuttle bus to the departure/arrival halls, was already full from 7 a.m. Only the parking tower 2 kilometers from the departure hall (a total of 6,453 spaces) had room for about 1,047 vehicles.
Security screening also became noticeably more crowded compared with the day Asiana Airlines transferred. T2 has 17 security screening lanes at each of its two departure halls. But due to a shortage of personnel to staff the lanes, only 12 lanes at each hall were operating even during rush hours.
Given the number of departures during the rush hours that day, one security screening lane would have screened the belongings of 515 people over three hours. With too few open lanes for the surge of passengers, security screening reportedly took more than an hour.
For Asiana Airlines passengers, the conclusion is that it took more than two hours for departure procedures and security screening. Korean Air Lines passengers appear to have finished much earlier.
An Incheon Airport official said, "From outside the departure halls at T2, it may not look crowded, but the interior departure halls are large enough for about 600 people to line up inside," adding, "During rush hours, security screening takes more than an hour."
Incheon Airport has a total of 2,043 security screeners, with 1,156 at T1 and 887 at T2. According to Incheon Airport security officials, even though Asiana Airlines has transferred, staffing increases at T2 have not been sufficient.
An Incheon Airport security official said, "T1 and T2 use different security screening equipment, and we cannot deploy off-duty workers every time just because T2 is crowded," adding, "We urgently need more staff."