Incheon International Airport Achieves 100 Million Cumulative Transit Passengers

Incheon International Airport surpassed 100 million cumulative transit passengers on March 2, 2023, marking 22 years since its opening.

Incheon International Airport Corporation announced that on the 2nd, it held a commemorative event celebrating the achievement of 100 million cumulative transit passengers in front of Gate 232 at Terminal 2 of Incheon Airport.

The event was attended by Kim Kyung-wook, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, Woo Ki-hong, President of Korean Air, and several other officials, who presented the 100 millionth transit passenger with generous gifts including a lucky golden key, round-trip tickets from Korean Air, and a stay voucher at the Grand Hyatt. They also expressed gratitude to the passengers who chose Incheon Airport as their transit hub.

The number of transit passengers at Incheon Airport has steadily increased since its opening in 2001, when it recorded 1.63 million passengers, reaching 7.23 million in 2019. However, it faced a crisis in 2021 due to the direct impact of COVID-19, dropping sharply to around 540,000 passengers. Nevertheless, in 2022, it showed a rapid recovery compared to competing airports in China and Japan, recording 2.71 million passengers, a 400% increase from the previous year.

The corporation plans to accelerate various transit marketing activities this year to drive the recovery of transit passenger demand and secure a competitive advantage in Northeast Asia’s transit demand during the post-COVID recovery period.

First, the corporation plans to further strengthen the transit routes between the Americas and Southeast Asia, and between Japan and Europe, where transit demand is rapidly recovering. Specifically, it will actively promote the excellence of Incheon Airport’s transit facilities and services by inviting local travel agencies for familiarization tours of the transit facilities and transit tours, as well as by launching over 30 local briefings and roadshows annually to intensify offline marketing.

Number of Transit Passengers at Incheon International Airport by Year. Photo by Incheon International Airport Corporation

Additionally, during the summer peak season, a ‘Welcome Back Package’ will be introduced to greet passengers visiting Incheon Airport. The Welcome Back Package consists of SNS marketing to stimulate travel psychology, discount promotions at commercial facilities within the airport, free transit tours resumed since January, and K-Stopover, a transit tourism product requiring at least one overnight stay. Through this, the corporation plans to imprint a unique ‘transit experience’ exclusive to Incheon Airport on passengers.

In the second half of the year, marketing activities will focus on revitalizing supply and demand in post-COVID border reopening regions such as China?which accounted for 20% of Incheon Airport’s total passengers in 2019?as well as Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Specifically, the corporation will expand the supply capacity of routes that have been slow to recover through the ‘Network Rebooting 2.0’ program, which successfully promoted airline route recovery last year. For regions where demand has been relatively suppressed, a new ‘Welcome to ICN’ program will be introduced to establish a virtuous cycle of supply and demand.

Furthermore, as competition intensifies over the status of Northeast Asia’s hub airport due to aggressive investments by the Chinese government in new airport construction and expansion of existing airports, the corporation will maintain close cooperative relationships by establishing ongoing partnerships in tourism, aviation, and airport industries. It will strengthen information sharing and marketing cooperation to develop new marketing tools.

Kim Kyung-wook, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, stated, “The demand for transit passengers is the most fundamental measure of how well an airport functions as a hub. The corporation will not only improve transit facilities and services but also establish an optimal air network, which is the most important factor in choosing a transit hub, to leap forward as a global mega hub.”