Incheon Airport Increases Passenger Demand with Normalization of China Routes

As travel restrictions between South Korea and China gradually ease, Incheon International Airport Corporation is accelerating efforts to fully restore passenger demand.

On the 12th, Incheon Airport Corporation announced that, starting from the 11th, the pre-entry COVID-19 testing requirement for travelers entering China has been lifted, marking the full removal of air travel restrictions between South Korea and China. Although the Chinese government has not yet resumed issuing tourist visas, the corporation expects the remaining restrictions to be lifted quickly based on recent trends.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, various restrictions, including mandatory quarantine periods of up to 28 days, had been in place between South Korea and China. However, following the resumption of short-term visa issuance between the two countries in February, the lifting of entry testing requirements in early March, the pre-entry COVID-19 testing obligation for travelers arriving from China was removed on the 11th.

Incheon Airport had 71.17 million passengers in 2019, just before the pandemic. Among them, passengers on Chinese routes numbered 13.58 million, accounting for the second-largest share (19%) after Southeast Asia (30%) among all passengers at Incheon Airport.

In 2022, the number of passengers on Chinese routes dropped to 420,000, a 97% decrease. As of February this year, passengers on Chinese routes were around 110,000, showing a recovery rate of about 10% compared to the same month in 2019. This figure falls short of the overall international passenger recovery rate at Incheon Airport, which stands at 65%. The gap with major countries is significant, with the Americas at 93%, Southeast Asia at 84%, and Japan at 80%. Therefore, the recovery of Chinese routes is the final challenge for the full normalization of Incheon Airport. With the lifting of restrictions, the current daily operation frequency of Chinese passenger routes at Incheon Airport, which is about 9 flights, is expected to recover to the pre-pandemic level of 120 flights by the first half of the year.

Monthly Passenger Trends Between Incheon Airport and China from 2019 to 2023
[Data provided by Incheon International Airport Corporation]

However, considering that China has been effectively closed for the past three years, passenger demand recovery is expected to be slow initially despite the increase in flight operations. Accordingly, the corporation plans to implement various demand recovery marketing campaigns aiming for a 50% recovery rate of Chinese passengers within the year to boost load factors through stimulating air travel demand.

The corporation will implement the 'Network Rebooting 2.0' program, which supports operating costs for routes that have achieved high recovery rates. Additionally, the 'Welcome to IC' program will run concurrently, providing promotional support for Korean travel products offered by overseas travel agencies and airlines to attract inbound demand.

With the May Labor Day holiday in China expected to be a critical turning point for attracting Chinese passengers, the corporation will strengthen localized marketing efforts. A large-scale follower event will be held through the official Incheon Airport account on WeChat, China’s largest social media platform. Collaborations with major Chinese online travel agencies will focus on promoting special experiences at Incheon Airport, including information on facilities and services, as well as benefits such as duty-free and food and beverage coupons. Furthermore, considering the high preference for airport buses and railways among inbound travelers from nearby countries such as China and Japan, the corporation will focus on expanding public transportation options.

Kim Kyung-wook, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, stated, "To live up to the name of a national gateway airport, we will do our best to ensure smooth airport operations by combining 22 years of airport management expertise with demand recovery marketing activities aimed at rapid full normalization."