Flying to South Korea? Brace for 80-minute wait at Incheon airport immigration

Foreign travellers arriving in South Korea through Incheon International Airport can expect a long wait at the Immigration counters.The lengthy queues were apparent at Incheon International Airport’s Terminal 1 on Friday, where foreign visitors stood waiting to clear Immigration.The line stretched beyond the 10 waiting lanes marked out by retractable belt barriers. Chaos ensued near the entrance as 300 to 400 new arrivals spilled into an already packed waiting area. Three or four guides from the Immigration-service" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="178624" data-entity-type="organization">Korea Immigration Service’s Incheon airport office and an airport subsidiary were on hand, but they could do little to ease the confusion.As the line stretched, so did the wait. Passengers who reached the Immigration counters at around noon were not processed until after 1.20pm. That 80-minute wait was not far behind the disruption seen during this year’s Lunar New Year holiday from February 16-18, when the entire arrival process for foreign travellers took as long as one hour and 54 minutes and was described as an “Immigration crisis”.The International Civil Aviation Organization, meanwhile, recommends keeping Immigration waiting times within 45 minutes.A primary reason for the congestion is the surging number of foreign visitors to South Korea.The number of foreign arrivals reached 2.04 million in June, up from 1.74 million during the same month last year, according to data released on Monday by the Immigration-service" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="178624" data-entity-type="organization">Korea Immigration Service. The first-half total rose 20.6 per cent to 11.05 million, from 9.15 million over the same period last year.The increase is expected to accelerate during the summer holiday season in July and August.“Our recent analysis of passenger patterns found that overseas travel demand among Koreans tends to concentrate around the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holiday, while demand among foreign visitors to Korea increases in July and August,” Incheon International Airport said. “This could lead to congestion at the airport.”Travellers move through the duty-free area of Incheon International Airport last month. Photo: EPA/YonhapThe low operating rate of the Immigration counters is also adding to the congestion.Further ReadingAt 1pm on Friday, only 11 of the 20 Immigration counters for foreign nationals in the western section were open. Meanwhile, just five of the 10 counters for Korean nationals were operating, including those designated for priority travellers, such as people with limited mobility, and users of automated Immigration clearance.The Ministry of Justice plans to increase staffing so more counters can operate and congestion in the arrivals hall can be eased. But the new officers are unlikely to reach the front line until the end of the year.The authorised workforce at the Immigration-service" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="178624" data-entity-type="organization">Korea Immigration Service’s Incheon airport office will increase by 141, from 853 to 994, on August 11. However, training and other preparations will take several months before the new personnel can be deployed.“Recently, between 220,000 and 240,000 travellers have been passing through Immigration each day, while the proportion of foreign passengers accompanied by infants and children has increased, causing congestion at certain times,” the office said. “During peak hours, we plan to mobilise not only Immigration screening officers but also support personnel to operate as many counters as possible.”