The 2nd Charter Flight Carrying Wuhan Evacuees Arrives at Gimpo Airport... Over 330 Passengers Onboard

Slightly Fewer Than Expected "Some Did Not Board Due to Issues Like Movement"

A Korean Air charter flight carrying Korean residents from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, where the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) occurred, arrived at Gimpo International Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 31st. The residents are lined up to board buses. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Lim Cheol-young, Yoo Je-hoon] The second charter flight organized to transport Korean residents living in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China?the epicenter of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia)?and its vicinity has arrived at Gimpo International Airport.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies on the 31st, Korean Air flight KE9884 (Boeing B747-400), which departed from Wuhan Tianhe Airport in China at 6:18 a.m. carrying about 330 Korean residents, arrived at Gimpo International Airport around 8:12 a.m.

Before the charter flight's arrival, the apron was heavily staffed with quarantine personnel wearing white protective suits, as well as fire trucks, ambulances, and police buses. Additionally, boarding bridges and cargo loaders were on standby to handle passengers and luggage, and a temporary quarantine station made of tents was set up on one side. Overall, the setup was similar to that of the first charter flight that arrived the previous day, but several additional tents were installed.

About 330 Korean residents boarded this second charter flight. This number falls short of the 350 people the government initially announced would be transported on the second charter flight. A government source explained, "We understand that about 10 Korean residents who had applied to board the charter flight were unable to do so due to difficulties in traveling to Wuhan Tianhe Airport."

Meanwhile, the Korean residents who arrived on this day completed a brief quarantine procedure at the temporary quarantine station set up on the apron, then underwent additional quarantine and immigration procedures before boarding police buses to be isolated in places such as Asan, Chungnam, and Jincheon, Chungbuk. In cases where symptoms appeared during the quarantine process, the individuals will be transported to hospitals via ambulance and isolated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.