Empty Duty Free Shops: On April 9, the duty free stores in Incheon International Airport terminal one lie empty. Incheon International Airport Corporation is expected to soon implement phase two of its emergency operation plan, greatly reducing airport functions, while Lotte and Shilla abandon their businesses in terminal one due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Yonhap News

Incheon International Airport may temporarily shut down some of its runways and passenger terminals, because the number of passengers has dropped due to COVID-19. The Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on April 9 that it planned to soon consult the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Economy and Finance as well as the airlines about implementing phase two of its emergency operation plan for the airport, after it entered phase 1 on March 26.

The corporation prepared a three-phase emergency operation plan for the Incheon International Airport after the number of passengers began to fall. In phase one, the corporation reduces airport functions by suspending some parts of terminals one and two when the number of daily passengers is between 7,000 and 12,000. If the number of daily passengers drops to 3,000-7,000, the corporation goes into phase two, further reducing airport functions. In phase three, when the number of passengers drops below 3,000, the corporation will only maintain minimal functions.

At present, the corporation has implemented the first phase of its emergency operation plan at Incheon International Airport, only running two of the six departure gates on the third floor of terminal 1. It has also reduced the number of check-in counters in the two terminals from 526 to 158. The corporation is only operating half of the unmanned shuttle trains that transport passengers between the two terminals and to boarding gates.

The Incheon International Airport is considering implementing phase two soon as the number of passengers continues to drop amidst the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of passengers who traveled through Incheon Airport from January to April 8 slightly exceeded 10 million, a 46.7% drop from the same period last year. The average daily number of passengers used to be 200,000, but the number dropped to less than 10,000 since last month. In particular, only 52,770 passengers passed through the airport from April 1 to 8, meaning the average daily number was 6,595 (1,280 departures, 5,315 arrivals). On April 6, the number of passengers was only 4,581 with only 600 leaving the country and 3,981 arriving. This was the lowest record, a 97.6% drop from last year.

If the airport implements the second phase of its emergency operation plan, it will close one of the three runways and suspend the operation of boarding gates mainly used by low-cost carriers. It will also suspend or reduce the operation of restaurants, cafes and duty free stores. If the airport enters phase three, it will suspend most of the commercial facilities and only provide minimal services and facilities, such as the airport apron, hangars, and baggage handling.

Some airport experts argue that if the number of passengers departing from the airport remains less than 1,000, the airport should shut down terminal two and only operate terminal one for efficient management. In the case of other countries, Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris shut down terminal three, Singapore Changi Airport closed terminal two, and Heathrow Airport in London stopped the operation of terminals three and four.

A representative of Incheon International Airport said, “If we shut down terminal two, some confusion is expected since we will have to move the airlines and ground services to terminal one. So it would be better to run only one of the east and west ends of terminals one and two and repair and improve the facilities during this period.”

The final decision will be made next week. The airport representative said, “We will make the decision on the phase-two emergency operation plan after consulting the government and airlines following an emergency management meeting on April 13.”

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