Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Woland]

according to the World Airport Awards, tied with Changi in Singapore. Hong Kong International won overall.

I have to admit I do like Incheon; I've never had a bad time getting through it.

Vancouver is the best on N. America and the only N. American one in the top ten.

[princess]

I can see exactly why Hong Kong International took first place. I was just there last Saturday. It's the best airport I've ever been in, and it rocks! So many shops and nice restaurants. Not boring like many airports. Incheon number two? Oops, they made a mistake I think. Incheon airport is boring. The only decent shops are the duty free shops. I didn't bother with them anyways since I was on my way to Hong Kong.

[tzechuk]

They do not judge airports based on the shops, you know, Princess. They base it on its efficiency and helpfulness, amongst other things.

I find Incheon airport to be highly efficient and effective - not to mention that they are very flexible.

[bosintang]

�It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the expression �as pretty as an airport�."
- Douglas Coupland

The best airports are the one I don't have to spend any more time in than is necessary. My favourite airport is the one in my hometown. Two gates, maybe about five flights a day maximum. Completely stress-free compared to New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Incheon, Narita, Hong Kong, or wherever else.

[jlb]

Incheon is a pretty comfortable place to spend a few hours. It's also super-fast to get through all the lines and everything. I can definitely see how it ranks pretty high.

[princess]

[tzechuk]

[Harpeau]

[ajgeddes]

Incheon is a great airport. My only problem with it is the crap lines at immigration for foreigners on arrival. I stood in line for 90 minutes once and there was only 30 people. At most they have 3 lines for foreigners and then 10 lines for Koreans. They then take 30 seconds to process Koreans and forever for foreigners. I usually sprint off the plane to avoid the damn line. Other than that though, wonderful, especially if you utilize the City Air Terminal.

[wuzza]

The immigration lines can be very annoying if more than one plane lands at the same time, and you need to make the last bus.

apart from that, I think Incheon is the business. It's so clean, the toilets are great, it's air-conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter. Very easy to find your way around, clearly signposted, tourist information actually speak English.

All-in-all I prefer it to any of the dozen other airports I've been to in Asia, even Hong Kong, which I thought was pretty over-priced.

[xCustomx]

Incheon is efficient? It took me 80 minutes to get through immigration 2 weeks ago, while my girlfriend went through her line in 10, even though there were maybe 5 more people in front of me in line.

[bonanzabucks]

I'm an aviation and airport enthusiast. Incheon is one of the best I've been to. It deserves it's ranking. I agree that HK's is even better and definitely the best airport I have been to. I would really like to check out Singapore's, which used to dominate the rankings, or Bangkok's new airport, which is supposedly MASSIVE and really good.

Hmmm...we should have a favorite airport thread...

[waynehead]

I have no complaints about incheon, which is pretty high praise i think when speaking of airports...

[jvalmer]

I remember coming to Korea in 1988 with my parents to watch the Olympics. Korea was definatly 3rd world then. Kimpo would have not won any awards for efficiency.

These days it's rare that you'll get your bags searched by cutoms, with a few exceptions like Israel. But, back then, Korean customs searched the bags of every single passenger. They had about 20 stations setup and the customs agents went through each item, and at the end of it... maybe 10 to 20 minutes later, we had to repack everything.

[articulate_ink]