Incheon Airport

✅ Verified Review | Incheon airport is great. It feels very modern. Everything seems to be new and in good condition. It is comfortable to walk along the aisle. The toilet is large, clean, not smelly. The signs are easy to read. Most signs come in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese, 4 languages in total, which is very nice. The queue time at the customs is quite long and unsatisfactory concerning the amount of people arriving at that time, 6am when there are not many passengers around. The luggage delivering speed is excellent. I got my luggage instantly after passing the customs. I have not experienced this for a very long time. But probably, it is down to the long time spent in the customs.

✅ Verified Review | Visited Incheon Airport four years after my last visit and was pleasantly surprised by some great improvements over the past few years. Tax refund process has become much more efficient and the immigration process is quick. There could have been more trains connecting the main terminal and the concourse, as the waiting time is about five minutes and the train is crowded. Excellent food choices and lounge. Very clean terminals and toilets. Clear directions and easy access to different facilities.

✅ Verified Review | My international departures and arrivals were mainly done at Incheon. As a passenger who has frequent business travels, I have been to 30+ airports worldwide. Among them, I strongly believe that Incheon has (1) top-class facilities, (2) great softwares including staffs, atmosphere, and (3) Connectivity in transportation / free wifi.

At Incheon Airport, I couldn't find any elevator up to the food court. Approached 2-3 information counters and there wasn't anyone at any of them. Had to ask a cashier in the Prada store to find out where the elevator is. There wasn't any directory to the foodcourt too. Terrible service.

✅ Verified Review | Comparing to Singapore and Hong Kong airport. I feel that Incheon Airport is more accessible for tourists. We can move from one place to another by walking. The reason maybe it is more compactly built compared to the other 2 airports. One bad thing is that, this airport does not have any supermarkers.Thus we cannot shop for any last minute snacks before boarding. It is a nice airport though.

The building design is nice, a large space with garden area decoration. Many choices of drinks and foods. Easy to follow signs and boards. However, when I arrived, the immigration process took too long. Incheon should have more immigration counters to meet the large number of passengers, I had to wait around one hour. The immigration for departures was much quicker. There was a scale near the check-in counters for us to check whether our luggage was overweight or not which I appreciated.

I currently live in South Korea and was traveling to Vietnam for a weekend trip. I was flying Asiana. I tried to check in using the kiosk, but could not synchronize my passport with my ticket. So got inline for the queue to check in and almost missed my flight. The queue was well over an hour and the staff were doing nothing to improve the process. Did not make any attempt to contact people in line that might have the possibility of missing their flight. On a good note, the agent did take action to get me on the flight in time. When I came back to Korea I approached the Immigrations line closest to the exit, which appeared to be open, but was told that it was closed. There were people going through the lines while I was inquiring about this. I was told this was for Koreans only. I then proceeded to the next area where I was told to go, which took 45 minutes to get through. There was not a single person in the Korean lines, but they would not extend the support to the foreigners.

✅ Verified Review | Incheon was an enjoyable airport for my connection. The logistics of making my connection were easy: no hassle with checked baggage, and a reasonable security checkpoint that was well-staffed. The airport had clear signs for directing passengers to where they needed to go. The terminal is clean, aesthetically pleasing, and has fantastic high, glass ceilings. There is a fair variety of food options, and an abundance of high-end shops (although not all that much for more budget-conscious folks). Seating in the terminal is comfortable. I noticed a section of reclined seats for napping, and these looked very comfortable. Incheon has an inspiring, modern feel, and is an enjoyable place to pass time. I recommend this airport for transfers.

ICN used to be a very good airport. I'm not sure it was really better than the rivals but nevertheless it did, and still does, a lot right that other airports don't do so well. But on my recent visits (and my location means I have to use ICN a lot) I'm experiencing serious flaws again and again. On departure, the main problem is if your flight leaves late in the evening or at night. There's simply hardly anything open at this time, which is unforgivable considering that there are several flights with hundreds of passengers on them, scheduled to depart at this time of day. I recently travelled on a Qatar flight just after midnight (with over 200 other passengers) and simply wanted to get some water for my young son and I to have for our long journey. There are several shops/counters near our departure gate in the main terminal (Qatar & Emirates now seem to be in the main terminal not the satellite) but they have all long since closed. There is one noodle cafe which has chairs blocking the entrance, but with someone behind the counter. However, she refuses to serve any of the several waiting passengers asking for things (mostly water, like us). I actually asked her in Korean what the problem was and was told that she could not put any transactions through the till outside of the shop's official opening times - and it had closed at 10pm. I asked at the one information counter I could find that was still staffed (about 5 mins walk from our gate) and was told, in a very apologetic tone by a young staff member clearly embarrassed to have to tell me this, that the only place I could buy any refreshments at all from was the Lotteria fast food counter by gate 10 - the far opposite end of the terminal to our gate. I know ICN well and, with a tired toddler in my care, that would have been a 20-25 minute walk there and back to our gate. And of course, if that was the only place open, who knows how long we might have had to wait to be served? So, with just 30 minutes left to our boarding time, I gave up. I'm appalled by this - for an international airport of some size this is completely inexcusable. Incheon Airport has spent a lot of money publicising its self-styled World Best Airport status. I'm sure just a fraction of that could have been used to provide even basic refreshment services within a reasonable distance of passengers travelling at night. As I live in Korea, ICN is often one of my few options but in future I'll be doing what I can to avoid it.

Incheon is a clean airport. Very clean rest rooms. Good food choices and good pricing - a little cheaper than an average US airport. Duty free is too expensive and a rip off - there are cheaper street prices in the US. Distance between gates is not horrendous and good clear signs. Comfortable seating areas near eateries.