Gimhae International Airport struggles with holiday crowds amid personnel shortages

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Gimhae International Airport struggles with holiday crowds amid personnel shortages

Published: 30 Apr. 2025, 15:25

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Crowds of travelers wait in line to depart at Gimhae International Airport ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday on Jan. 26. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Gimhae International Airport in Busan is expected to be swamped with travelers during the upcoming holiday period from May 1 to 6, mirroring the congestion experienced over the Lunar New Year in January.

Although passenger numbers are projected to match those of the earlier peak season, no additional staffing has been implemented to ease operations.

Many have demanded that a second departure hall be opened at Gimhae International Airport, which is already saturated, but this has proven impossible this year due to budgetary issues. Gimhae International Airport is expected to be congested during the seven-day Chuseok holiday this October.

Waiting for hours

From Thursday to next Tuesday, an estimated 179,177 international passengers are expected to pass through Gimhae International Airport, with nearly 1,000 international flights scheduled.

The busiest days will be Saturday and Sunday, with 30,607 passengers and 170 international flights expected Saturday and 30,928 passengers and 172 international flights scheduled for Sunday. Most departures are concentrated between 6 and 9 a.m., raising concerns about severe bottlenecks.

Gimhae International Airport faced similar issues earlier this year during the Lunar New Year, with the average number of international passengers at the airport during the holiday period from Jan. 24 to Feb. 2 reaching 31,500.

At the time, security queues stretched up to 160 meters (174 yards), with two- to three-hour wait times, and even flight delays. Hordes of people crowded in front of the departure checkpoints, and the waiting lines became tangled, raising concerns about safety accidents.

Crowds of travelers wait in line to depart at Gimhae International Airport on Feb. 7. [NEWS1]

As complaints from passengers skyrocketed, Gimhae International Airport said it would prepare measures such as adding more security screening personnel, but no additional personnel were added.

A total of 416 people are working at Gimhae International Airport, including 237 security screening personnel and 179 aviation security personnel, according to Korea Airport Security Cooperation, a subsidiary of Korea Airports Corporation, as of Wednesday. This is similar to the number of employees working during the Lunar New Year holiday.

“There was discussion about increasing personnel after the Lunar New Year holiday in January, but no personnel were added,” a Korea Airport Security Cooperation official said. “We have currently requested the Korea Airports Corporation to increase the number of security screening and aviation security personnel by 36.”

Gimhae International Airport tried to move up the departure hall opening time, but due to circumstances such as the airport staff’s commuting hours, even this was realistically impossible. However, on Saturday and Sunday, when the airport expects the most passengers, the departure hall will open 10 minutes earlier than usual at 5:30 a.m.

The airport’s other holiday contingency measures are limited to increasing parking staff and improving floor signage.

By contrast, Incheon International Airport will open its departure area at 5 a.m. from Thursday to Saturday and will triple its number of security screeners to 56 to minimize airport congestion.

Crowds of travelers wait in line to depart at Gimhae International Airport ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays on Jan. 26. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Second departure hall far-off

Calls to open a second departure terminal at Gimhae International Airport are growing, but the lack of CIQ (customs, immigration, quarantine) personnel makes it unlikely this year. Although a new expansion terminal has been in use since April 2024, it cannot operate as a second departure hall without CIQ staff.

"We’ve requested CIQ staffing from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and had an on-site inspection in early April," a Gimhae International Airport operations official said. "We’re now awaiting approval from the Ministry of Economy and Finance to include 60 additional CIQ staff in next year’s budget.

“Even if the Finance Ministry accepts the request of the Interior Ministry to include the increase in personnel in next year’s budget, the earliest we could open the second terminal is next year,” said the official.

The Chuseok holiday in October, which will last from Oct. 3 to 9, is also expected to bring significant congestion.

Last year, Gimhae International Airport handled more than 9 million international travelers, the second most in the country after Incheon. With Chinese tourism rebounding, officials expect to surpass 10 million passengers this year — well beyond the airport’s current capacity of 8.3 million.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE EUN-JI [[email protected]]