Incheon International Airport Corp. on the afternoon of Aug. 26 runs a test of remote boarding facilities at Terminal 2. (Incheon International Airport Corp.)

By Park Hye Ri

Incheon International Airport in the second half of the year will set up remote boarding facilities at Terminal 2 that allow passengers to board planes directly from the tarmac. 

This will make the Incheon airport just the third in the world with such facilities after Los Angeles International Airport in the U.S. and Munich Airport in Germany. 

Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) on Aug. 29 said the airport tested remote boarding facilities at Terminal 2 on Aug. 26. 

With the participation of more than 100 people consisting of IIAC and airline staff, ground operators and mock passengers, the test was conducted like a real departure with steps like security screening, bus transfers and aircraft boarding.

When a departure gate was packed during busy times, passengers had to ride buses to the tarmac to board their planes. This meant inconvenience for those with a lot of baggage to carry and exposure to bad weather like heavy winds and rain.

To ease such inconvenience, IIAC in May completed construction of two remote boarding facilities with passenger facilities like escalators, elevators and air conditioning covering two floors of 550 square m at the west tarmac of Terminal 2. Two more facilities will be built on the east tarmac of the terminal by April next year.   

Once the facilities on the west tarmac are opened in the year's second half, those who complete departure procedures can ride a bus to the facilities from the terminal to the remote boarding gate, not the plane. They will wait at the facility and later use the connecting passageway to board their planes after the latter land.

Eight eco-friendly electric buses each with a 90-seat capacity will transport passengers to the tarmac to board their flights.

IIAC President Kim Kyung Wook said, "Ahead of the full recovery of aviation demand after COVID-19, we will make every effort to gain a competitive advantage in the global airport market such as improving passenger convenience by preemptively expanding the Incheon airport's facility infrastructure and thoroughly preparing for operations."

hrhr@korea.kr