An official at Incheon International Airport demonstrates the Smart Pass identification process at a departure entrance in Terminal 2 in this July 28, 2023, photo. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Incheon International Airport will increase Smart Pass corridors to boost convenience for users of the smartphone app that allows faster identification process for boarding passengers.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Wednesday it will increase Smart Pass entry points at Terminal 2 from two to three starting Thursday. Terminal 1 will also add a second Smart Pass entrance. With the expansion, Smart Pass corridors will account for 31 percent of all departure entrances at the airport.
The government said up to 50 percent of departure entrances at the country's largest airport will be equipped with Smart Pass corridors by October.
The system expansion addresses complaints that the three existing Smart Pass corridors are insufficient for handling growing passenger demand. The corridors’ locations, concentrated outside the terminals’ central areas, lowered accessibility. Smart Pass users, once joined by nonusers in security lines, said they could not feel the app’s purported rapid boarding process.
Due to these inconveniences, passengers using Smart Pass only accounted for 14.7 percent of airport users in March, according to the government.
“Smart Pass is an innovative airport service leveraging cutting-edge technologies to improve both airport security and passenger convenience,” said Ahn Se-hee, director of aviation security policy division at the ministry. “We are committed to continuously enhancing the service to ensure the public can access and utilize it with greater ease and convenience.”
Smart Pass, first introduced at the airport in 2023, does more than the rapid identification of passengers based on preregistered passport, biometric and boarding pass data. Passengers flying with Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, T'way Air and Air Premia benefit from automatic boarding pass synchronization with the app, freeing them from the hassle of manual input.
Smart Pass also facilitates self-bag drop and identity verification at boarding gates for selected airlines. In a survey conducted in October, 4,202 out of 4,444 respondents said they were satisfied with Smart Pass, according to the government.
Source: Korea Times News
