Airport packed for holiday travel

[Anchor]

So, if you take a day off next Friday, it will result in a long holiday of nearly ten days.

The government has also designated this ten-day period as a special transportation measure period.

During this time, the number of passengers using airports nationwide is expected to exceed 3.6 million, making it the highest ever during the Lunar New Year holiday.

On average per day, this is more than during last year's Lunar New Year holiday and even before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.

In particular, Incheon International Airport, which sees a lot of travelers going abroad, is expected to be the busiest.

Now, our reporter Yoon Ah-rim is at Incheon Airport.

Yoon, I've been hearing that people are advised to arrive not three hours early, but five or six hours ahead of time.

How serious is the situation?

[Reporter]

Yes, as we move into the evening hours, the waiting lines have significantly decreased.

However, starting tomorrow (1.25), when the holiday begins, the situation will be different.

This is because many people are planning to spend the extended Lunar New Year holiday abroad.

[Park Ji-sun/Seongpa-gu, Seoul: "We are going to Bali for the holiday. It takes a long time to get there, but since the holiday is long..."]

[Eom Jin-min/Gwanak-gu, Seoul: "This Lunar New Year holiday is long, so my friend and I are going to Taiwan for the first time in a while. We plan to visit a lot of night markets and eat delicious food."]

Tomorrow, the number of travelers departing from Incheon Airport is expected to be the highest.

You should also consider that there will be a lot of airport users in the morning hours.

The day with the highest number of arriving travelers is expected to be the Thursday after the Lunar New Year.

[Anchor]

It seems that those departing should hurry.

Is there any information that would be good to know in advance?

[Reporter]

Yes, Incheon Airport has opened the immigration area 30 minutes earlier starting today (1.24) to reduce congestion.

During the holiday period, security checkpoints will also be expanded.

The parking lots at Incheon Airport have already been full since this morning, including the long-term parking lot.

Therefore, Incheon Airport officials have urged travelers to use public transportation as much as possible.

Before heading to the airport, it is advisable to check flight information and congestion status on the airport's website and arrive earlier than usual.

This has been Yoon Ah-rim from Incheon International Airport for KBS News.