Incheon International Airport Achieves 800 Million Baggage Milestone

Incheon International Airport Corporation (President Hag Jae Lee) marked a significant milestone in its operational history by handling a cumulative total of 800 million pieces of baggage since its opening in 2001. The achievement, reached after 23 years and 3 months of operation, was celebrated with an event organized by Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) on July 9^th.

According to IIAC, the commemorative event took place at the airport’s baggage handling area and was attended by approximately 80 guests, including IIAC President Hag Jae Lee, Airport Operator’s Committee(AOC-I) Secretary General Im Sung-take, and representatives from five ground handling companies, including Korea Airport, Asiana Airport, Sharp Aviation K, Swissport, and JAS.

Participants at the event congratulated one another on reaching the milestone of 800 million handled baggage pieces at Incheon Airport. President Lee Hag Jae expressed gratitude and encouragement to the ground handling companies responsible for baggage operations, presenting them with tokens of appreciation.

Since achieving 100 million pieces in February 2006, Incheon Airport has shown a robust annual growth rate of 9%(between 2001 and 2019), swiftly expanding its baggage handling capacity. Despite a slowdown in baggage growth due to reduced air travel demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, recent declarations of full airport operation normalization in August 2023 have spurred recovery in air travel demand. This resurgence culminated in reaching the 800 million mark on July 2^nd, 2024, just 2 years and 6 months after achieving 700 million pieces in December 2021.

The 800 million baggage pieces equate to approximately 12 million tons in weight and, if lined up end to end, would stretch over 720,000 kilometers—about 18 times the Earth's circumference (40,075 kilometers). Currently, Incheon Airport processes an average of 168,000 baggage pieces daily. This is a recovery to 98% of pre-COVID 19 levels seen in 2019(171,000 pieces), indicating a potential for surpassing historical peak records soon, considering the ongoing passenger growth trend.

To proactively meet rising demand, IIAC continues to expand baggage handling infrastructure and introduce advanced technologies. The airport’s current baggage handling system spans 141 kilometers with an area of 375,610 square meters (equivalent to 53 football fields). Upon completion of the Terminal 2 expansion project by the end of this year, an additional 43 kilometers of conveyor belts and supplementary facilities will be added, bringing the total to 184 kilometers.

Incheon Airport also boasts the world’s highest accuracy rate in baggage handling, recording an error rate of 2 per million bags compared to the global airport average of 6 per thousand bags. IIAC plans to enhance its baggage handling infrastructure through digital transformation initiatives such as developing and implementing a ground handling company baggage tracking system, piloting collaborative baggage transfer robots, and advancing baggage detection systems.

Hag jae Lee, President & CEO of IIAC commented, “I extend my sincere gratitude to the ground handling companies and all stakeholders who have diligently contributed to reaching the milestone of 800 million baggage pieces handled since the airport’s inception. Moving forward, we will accelerate our digital transformation leveraging big data, digital twins, robotics, AI, and other advanced technologies to strengthen the future competitiveness of our baggage infrastructure and provide even better airport services to our passengers.”