Seoul Incheon Airport

✅ Trip Verified |   Crazy long lines without system. The security will cut off the lines and not explaining and not arranging the lines properly. Staff are not friendly at all, some don’t know English. Crews at the counters are not helpful too. Check in counters open late given the long lines in security. Very awful experience

Not Verified |   Waiting for over 1 hour to go through security check for transit through Incheon is unacceptable. Incheon needs to improve their process or train your staff appropriately so that the process moves more quickly. This security check is slower than the USA. And it is a transfer security check, with some passengers with short layover times.

Not Verified |   Terminal 1 security queue unable to cope, poorly staffed by disinterested and overwhelmed staff. Once through security, all shops and food outlets closing at 9 pm although flights leaving till 1 am. Very poor

✅ Trip Verified | Incheon is a very large but efficient airport. The first time we arrived it was quite empty and we were out in 20 minutes from landing which we thought was amazing. The second time was much busier and there were long snaking immigration queues but they moved quickly and efficiently. The departure process was extremely pleasant and efficient with security and immigration taking no more than 15 minutes to complete. Everything was well signposted and clear. The airport was very clean, toilets spotless and a good variety of shops. Definitely a good experience.

✅ Trip Verified | Eat/drink before coming to this airport during non-peak hours. Arrived at around 9pm on a Sunday for a midnight departure. Check-in and security was not too bad at this time of day but I have recently experienced worse waits so increase your level of generosity for longer security queues. However, the worst part of ICN is in the airside where there is absolutely nothing for passengers at non-peak hours. Due to security checkpoints you would not be able to bring anything to drink into the airside and suddenly you cannot find anything at all, leaving you unable to eat/drink until you board your flight (there are a tiny Starbucks and a Dunkin Donuts with unending lines for desperate passengers for something to eat/drink, but you would have to make 20-minute round trip walks from your gate just to be in line for a cup of coffee if your gate is far away from these two shops). Shopping is appalling as only one or two duty-free shops are open past 10pm and people have to line up to be admitted to the stores as very limited staff manages the store during this time. There are plenty of luxury brand outlets but do not even bother as they are all closed, leaving a grand hallway with nothing open for you on the side. Sorry to see that my home airport is slipping in terms of everything.

Not Verified | (Terminal 2) This has got to be the most boring airport ever. All luxury brands and nowhere to buy reasonably priced last minute gifts or souvenirs - or anything really. Food options are scarce. Can't even find any snacks! On the plus side, toilets are clean.

✅ Trip Verified | ery quiet, clean and calm. Simply but beautifully designed. I found the staff here quite friendly. Free wifi is excruciatingly slow. Food choices extremely limited. You know it's poor when Starbucks starts looking good. There's a noodle place that's great if you like clams, because every item has clams. The non-Starbucks coffee place has an ordering screen in Korean only; if you don't know Korean you join a long "quick order" line. Why this in an international airport? An 8-hour layover here is not something I want to do again.

Not Verified | Terrible untrained staff make security a nightmare. Everyone is on their own routine and they get in each other's way and contradict each other constantly. They have no idea what is approved and what is not. Many rescans with no problems found. Total time waiting joke of security. While the terminal has lots of needless luxury brands, good luck finding bottled water. It's all image with no substance. Terrible airport.

Not Verified | Beautiful airport! Well designed and laid out with good accessibility. But an airport is only as good as its screening points IMO and in that department Incheon sucks big time. Poorly trained staff cause unnecessary delays with long line ups a result. Common sense is in short supply with these folks. The scanner operator continually lost track of bags and their associated images requiring rescanning. The group was disorganized and acted unprofessionally. They confiscated a set of nail clippers purposely designed to meet ICAO standards for length of blade. These folks treated it as though it was a sword! Tried to convince the vacuous looking supervisor that I had just come from 3 other airports within 22 hours that had accepted the device as safe for transport in the cabin. No luck. I was tempted to point out I could do more damage with my ballpoint pen in my pocket which passed inspection than I could with my nail clippers but - no luck. Moral of the story either pack things like this in your checked baggage or avoid going through Incheon which would be a pity. Maybe some day they will train the scanners how to do their jobs with a smattering of common sense thrown in.

Not Verified | Terrible for people with dietary restrictions. I had a 22hr layover at Incheon but the only vegetarian/vegan food I was able to find was a small pot of fruit and bag on nuts from Starbucks. I was absolutely starving by the time I boarded my 2nd flight. I asked the help desk if there was anywhere with vegetarian options and she just said very bluntly, "No, this is an Asian country". I understand that vegetarianism is not big in South Korea, but there are millions of vegetarians and vegans in Asia. It's shocking that a huge international airport like Incheon would have zero options catering to them in 2022. There's also no convenience stores where you can buy a bottle of water, snacks or travel essentials like plug adapters. It's all just luxury goods, liquor and makeup shops. It really feels like they've put all their effort into giving the impression that it's a nice fancy airport, but put zero thought into the actual needs of travelers.