Passengers form massive queues at Incheon International Airport’s departure hall on Friday as the Seollal holiday travel rush begins. (Newsis)
Passengers form massive queues at Incheon International Airport’s departure hall on Friday as the Seollal holiday travel rush begins. (Newsis)

Packed terminals, hourslong waits, and gridlocked parking lots at Incheon Airport have led social media users to warn fellow travelers: arrive five hours early, or risk missing your flight amid the Seollal holiday chaos.

The extended holiday, which spans six days this year thanks to the addition of a government-designated temporary holiday on Jan. 27, has stretched the airport’s capacity to its limits. Social media users have posted warnings and firsthand accounts on social platforms like X, urging others to prepare for delays and extreme congestion.

“Crowds at Incheon Airport are exactly as rumored,” one online user wrote. “You should arrive at least four to five hours in advance to have enough time.”

An X post published on Sunday shows a packed departure hall at Incheon Airport with the caption, “This is what the crowd at Incheon Airport looks like at 5:30 in the morning.” (X)
An X post published on Sunday shows a packed departure hall at Incheon Airport with the caption, “This is what the crowd at Incheon Airport looks like at 5:30 in the morning.” (X)

Another person shared a photo of a packed departure area at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, captioning it, “This is what the crowd at Incheon International Airport looks like at 5:30 in the morning.”

One frustrated traveler wrote, “I arrived at Incheon Airport at 5 a.m., but the road to the departure hall was like a parking lot. I guess I should have arrived five hours earlier.”

An X post on Sunday shows gridlocked traffic outside Incheon Airport early in the morning, with the caption, “I’ve only seen on the news that there are so many people at Incheon Airport, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad from early in the morning.” (X)
An X post on Sunday shows gridlocked traffic outside Incheon Airport early in the morning, with the caption, “I’ve only seen on the news that there are so many people at Incheon Airport, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad from early in the morning.” (X)

Yet another posted an image of heavy traffic outside the airport at 6 a.m., saying, “I’ve only seen on the news that there are so many people at Incheon Airport, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad from early in the morning.”

Record-breaking travel numbers

The surge in travelers is reflected in data from the Incheon International Airport Corporation. Between Jan. 24 and Feb. 2, the airport expects to handle over 2.14 million passengers -- 1.05 million departing and 1.09 million arriving. This represents a 12.8 percent increase from the same period last year and a 6 percent rise compared to 2019, just before the pandemic.

Daily passenger traffic is averaging 214,110, with Jan. 25 seeing the highest volume at 227,725 passengers, followed closely by Jan. 26 at 227,217 and Jan. 24 at 224,885.

Amid the holiday chaos, Incheon Airport officials are encouraging travelers to plan ahead. “Check-in counters open three hours before departure, but with the increased number of passengers, wait times at check-in and security checkpoints can be significantly longer,” said an official from the Incheon International Airport Corporation.


mjh@heraldcorp.com