Over 210,000 Passengers Per Day... Most Crowded on the 5th
By Route: Japan 26.3%, China 17.7%
Additional Booths Installed for SKT Hacking USIM Replacement
Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on May 8 that a total of 1,473,000 passengers, or an average of 210,384 passengers per day, used Incheon Airport during the golden holiday period from April 30 to May 6. This represents an increase of approximately 10.1% compared to the same period last year.
On May 1st, ahead of the golden holiday weekend, the departure hall of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport is bustling with passengers. Photo by Yonhap News
The day with the highest number of passengers during this period was May 5, with 219,740 people using the airport. The highest number of departing passengers was recorded on May 3, when the holiday period officially began, with 114,741 departures. The highest number of arriving passengers was on the last day of the holiday, May 6, with 114,630 arrivals.
By route (country), Japan accounted for the largest share of total passengers at 26.3%, followed by China (17.7%), Vietnam (10.2%), and the United States (7.0%).
In anticipation of passenger traffic during the holiday period reaching peak season levels, the corporation had implemented a comprehensive set of measures in advance. These included opening the departure hall earlier, increasing the number of information staff, extending the operating hours of duty-free shops and convenience facilities, and securing additional temporary parking lots.
In addition, due to the recent SK Telecom USIM hacking incident, the corporation anticipated a significant increase in passengers wishing to replace their USIM cards before departure and took thorough measures to provide on-site support. In this regard, it operated a large number of additional booths for USIM replacement on the departure floors of both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, in addition to the existing SK Telecom roaming centers. The corporation also reported that it had adjusted the layout in advance to prevent the USIM replacement queues from overlapping with passenger movement lines. The additional booths are expected to operate for about one month going forward.
Lee Hakjae, President of the corporation, stated, "Since congestion occurred during the Lunar New Year holiday due to increased departure times, we worked closely with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Justice, airlines, and other relevant agencies to implement congestion mitigation measures for this golden holiday. We will continue to identify areas for airport improvement and spare no effort in supporting measures to enhance passenger convenience, such as expanding the operation of telecom roaming centers."
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