Changes at Incheon Airport

November 12, 2003

Changes at Incheon Airport
Procedures for passengers, cargo to be eased

Joongang Ilbo, South Korea


The government said yesterday that it will simplify the processing of
passengers and cargo at Incheon International Airport in an effort to turn
it into the worldĄŻs fifth largest passenger hub and second largest cargo
airport by 2010.
Beginning in 2005, Koreans will be exempt from completing arrival
declaration forms when they land at the airport. But the Ministry of
Construction and Transportation said that foreigners will continue to be
required to complete the arrival cards.
The ministry also will begin working with the justice ministry to reissue
passports to Koreans in 2005 that incorporate chips containing biological
information. The elimination of arrival declarations will be facilitated
by a global computer network linking airports that will supply information
about Korean passengersĄŻ travel.
It said the measures should cut the maximum arrival processing time from
the current 53 minutes to less than 40 minutes.
The government will also raise the current $400 ceiling on duty free
imports of goods by arriving passengers.
A number of changes are also planned in the handling of cargo at the
airport. Air cargo with a declared value of no more than $2,000 will not
have to go through customs inspections. The airport plans to cut the
proportion of customs inspections of arriving cargo to less than 5 percent
in early 2004.
A new transfer terminal for cargo passing through Incheon to other
airports will also be built in the first half of next year.
The operation of shuttle buses running from the airport to Seoul, which
now ends at 11 p.m., will be extended to midnight beginning in January.
The ministry is also negotiating with Booz Allen & Hamilton to retain the
consulting firm to organize the development of a 245-acre customs-free
trade zone and a 776-acre international business complex around Incheon
Airport.


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