The largest peak-season crowd on record is expected to descend on Incheon International Airport over this year's Chuseok holiday.
Incheon International Airport Corporation said on the 30th that during the 11-day Chuseok holiday period (Oct. 2–12), Incheon International Airport is expected to handle a total of 2,453,000 passengers, or a daily average of 223,000. That would be 2.3% higher than the previous peak-season record set this summer (218,000), marking an all-time high. It is an 11.5% increase from last year's Chuseok, when the daily average was 200,000.
The busiest day is expected to be Oct. 3, when 239,000 people are projected to use Incheon International Airport, setting a new record. Departures are forecast to peak on the 3rd (129,000), while arrivals are expected to peak on the 12th (124,000).
The corporation designated the period as a special transportation countermeasure period and will implement joint special measures with related agencies to prevent passenger inconvenience such as airport congestion. To minimize departure processing times, it will expand X-ray screening equipment at Departure Hall No. 1 in Terminal 2 (from 10 to 17 units) and deploy all 119 additional security screening personnel to the field. In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the departure halls will open one hour earlier (5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m.), and in collaboration with airlines, additional check-in staff will be concentrated.
It will also implement transportation measures to meet increased demand by securing a total of 1,300 new parking spaces through a shift in parking operations and expanding late-night route bus services.
Smart services will also be expanded. The number of dedicated Smart Pass (facial recognition departure service) checkpoints will increase by two, from three to five, and major portal sites will provide a "departure hall estimated processing time information service" so travelers can check expected wait times by departure hall before heading to the airport.
It will also respond to a strike by the labor union of its subsidiary during the holiday. Since Aug. 18, the corporation has operated an emergency response headquarters and has been working closely with the government, subsidiaries, airlines, and other related agencies to ensure that airport operations are not disrupted.
If a strike occurs, the corporation plans to activate its emergency response system to strengthen real-time situation management and, in cooperation with its subsidiary, deploy personnel for essential maintenance operations and internal and external replacement workers at the subsidiary.
Lee Hak-jae, president of Incheon International Airport Corporation, said, "For more convenient airport use during the holiday, we ask passengers to actively use public transportation and various smart services."