International flights at Incheon International Airport, which were reduced due to the COVID-19 outbreak, will be normalized from the 8th of this month.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced today (3rd) that it has decided to promote the 'early normalization of international flights' at the Corona 19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will lift the limit on the number of flights arriving per hour (slot limit) and no-fly time (coffee) at Incheon Airport, which have been in effect since April 2020, in two years and two months.



The number of flights arriving per hour at Incheon International Airport has been reduced to 20 after the COVID-19 crisis, but from the 8th, it will increase to 40, the pre-COVID-19 level.



The coffee machine, which runs from 8 PM to 5 AM next month, will also disappear, making Incheon Airport open 24 hours a day.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "The supply of flights will become smooth and various flight schedules will be restored as soon as possible.



The scale of international flights will also be larger than originally planned.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport originally planned to increase the number of international flights by 100 to 300 flights per week in stages, and restore international flights to 50% of the pre-COVID-19 level by the end of this year.



However, in consideration of the recent rapid increase in air demand and the stabilization of COVID-19 at home and abroad, we have decided to expand the scale of flights.



Specifically, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport increased the number of international flights in June to 230 flights a week, an increase of 130 flights a week from the original plan.



As a result, it is expected that the recovery of the airline industry and the stabilization of airline ticket prices will also ease the difficulties of global companies that are having difficulties in overseas economic activities due to a shortage of airline tickets.



Incheon International Airport Corporation, Korea Airports Corporation, and the Ministry of National Defense will provide guidance and order maintenance personnel for the prompt entry of passengers, while the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to manage airport congestion by increasing the use of 'Q-Code' that enables rapid quarantine screening.



Quarantine time at the airport is reduced from 60 seconds to 30 seconds by using a Q-code that is pre-entered online at the point of departure.



In addition, from this day, restrictions on the wearing of protective equipment for cabin attendants and the operation of crew-only toilets will be lifted.



While improving aviation regulations in this way, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to respond to the introduction of new mutations into Korea by thoroughly implementing the PCR (gene amplification) test negative confirmation procedure before boarding an airplane through airlines.



Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong said, "Recently, the price of air tickets has become too expensive, and even those expensive tickets have become difficult to obtain, making it difficult to travel abroad or to visit relatives. “I look forward to seeing the airline industry take off again,” he said.