Park Mo, 38, was trying to catch a flight to Nha Trang, Vietnam, at 9:50 p.m. on the 27th of last month at Incheon International Airport. He arrived at the airport at 7 p.m., nearly three hours before the departure. However, he had to wait too long in line at the security checkpoint inside the departure hall and could only reach the boarding gate 10 minutes before the scheduled departure. Park said, "I don't understand why so many of the security checkpoints are not operational."
Complaints from travelers about long check-in procedures at Incheon International Airport are growing (ChosunBiz reported on Jan. 7). They complain that the waiting time at security checkpoints for body and carry-on luggage checks is excessively long.
In response, there are concerns that there are problems with the new equipment introduced by Incheon International Airport Corporation to enhance the speed and accuracy of security screening. Additionally, there are claims that there aren't enough personnel to operate all the installed equipment.
◇Long waiting lines, but 70% of the security checkpoints are unmanned… '75% of the staff on duty during peak times'
According to Incheon International Airport Corporation and the integrated security screening union on the 20th, during the peak times of 7 to 9 a.m. when most travelers are present, one-third of the security checkpoints remain unoperated due to a lack of staff. In fact, on the 9th, Terminal 2's first departure hall had 21 security checkpoints installed, but only 6 were operational, leaving more than 70% unmanned.
While some suggest adjusting employee work hours flexibly to concentrate staff during peak times, the union argues that this is practically difficult. According to the union, security screening personnel are divided into seven teams and work four days a week. They sometimes work 15 hours continuously from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day (with 13.5 hours of effective work time excluding breaks).
Through such methods, security screening staff at Incheon Airport, which operates 24 hours a day, work at the legal working hours level (40 hours). During peak times of 7 to 9 a.m., nearly half of all employees and 75% of the staff on duty are assigned to security screening tasks.
◇New equipment increases processing capacity by 7.8% per employee, but the union says, 'There are many errors, and the effect is minimal.'
Incheon International Airport Corporation has introduced new equipment to enhance the accuracy and processing speed of security screenings. The new equipment has been in use at the first passenger terminal since 2022, and all 33 security checkpoints are now equipped with it. In the second passenger terminal, out of a total of 35 security checkpoints, 28 are old models and 7 are new.
The old security checkpoints are X-ray based, requiring employees to check 2D images to determine whether prohibited items are present in carry-on luggage. The new security checkpoints use computed tomography (CT) technology, allowing employees to examine the inside of carry-ons in detail through 360-degree 3D images.
The processing speed has also improved. An old model can screen carry-on luggage for 145 passengers per hour, whereas the new model can handle 260. It takes 25 seconds for the old model to screen one piece of luggage, while the new model takes 14 seconds. However, the personnel required to operate one unit of equipment is 4.5 for the old model compared to 7 for the new model. Considering this, the number of passengers a security screening employee can process per hour has increased from 32.2 for the old model to 34.7 for the new, marking a 7.8% increase.
However, the union points out that the new equipment frequently experiences 'errors (malfunctions),' which reduces the processing speed. They report that increased use of radiation-shielding lead curtains at the point where carry-ons enter the equipment often causes lightweight items, like scarves, to fall outside of plastic bins. In such cases, the equipment must be turned off and preheated again, taking about four minutes. This is the equivalent of the time needed to screen the luggage of 16 passengers, thus lengthening wait times. However, a spokesperson from Incheon International Airport Corporation stated, "It is extremely rare for luggage to fall inside the security checkpoint."
Additionally, the new equipment reportedly generates 'errors' if a carry-on is not scanned within 15 seconds. In this case, security screening personnel must rescan and check the carry-on. This, according to the union, adds to the length of the security screening time.
◇The second terminal’s security screenings can process 2,400 passengers per hour, while the departing passengers between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. average 3,800.
There are also indications that simply installing faster security screening equipment is insufficient to handle the increasing demand for departures from Incheon International Airport. According to the airport, an average of 3,809 passengers departed from Terminal 2 between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. last December.
However, considering the current manpower and equipment utilization at Terminal 2, the number of passengers that can be processed in one hour is around 2,400. The number of passengers departing from Terminal 2 continuously exceeds 2,400 from 7 a.m. to noon. If passengers do not arrive at the airport early, they risk being pushed back by other travelers who have not yet passed the security checkpoint, potentially causing them to miss their boarding time.
The solution is to operate more security checkpoints, but this requires increasing the number of staff. Currently, there are 290 security screening personnel working at Incheon International Airport's Terminal 2. According to the union, to operate all the equipment, an additional 1,026 employees are needed, and even for 50% operation, an additional 368 are necessary. Currently, the airport has not even filled the allotted staff limit (308). A union representative noted, "The airport side says they will consider increasing staff after filling the quota," while a representative from Incheon International Airport Corporation commented, "We are considering increasing staff."