Incheon Airport to Reduce COVID-19 Testing Time from Up to 7 Hours to 2 Hours Starting Next Month

On the 20th, passengers of Air Seoul's overseas non-landing flight moved toward the boarding gate at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport.

Air Seoul's overseas non-landing flight departs from Incheon Airport, circles over Japanese airspace, and returns, recording a 98% occupancy rate, receiving high interest from passengers.

Air Seoul plans to operate three overseas non-landing flights in March on the 6th, 14th, and 21st. / Photo by Airport Photographers Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on the 23rd that starting from the 1st of next month, rapid COVID-19 testing and in-house testing will be introduced at the Incheon Airport COVID-19 Testing Center. This will significantly reduce the testing time, which previously took at least 7 hours, to 2 to 4 hours.

Incheon International Airport Corporation will first introduce rapid PCR testing (LAMP method) on the 1st of next month. Rapid PCR testing is a PCR testing method officially approved by the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Due to its short testing time, it is recommended for confirming the health status of healthy travelers without COVID-19 symptoms entering the country from abroad.

Rapid PCR testing is recognized as a COVID-19 negative certificate equivalent to general PCR testing for overseas arrivals, except for some countries such as China and Thailand.

When the Incheon Airport COVID-19 Testing Center opened in December last year, PCR testing was outsourced to an external specialized institution for stable operation, but from the 1st of next month, the center will conduct PCR testing in-house. With the introduction of in-house testing, the testing time, which previously took about 7 hours, is expected to be greatly reduced to 4 hours.

Inha University Hospital, which is responsible for operating the Incheon Airport COVID-19 Testing Center, has completed preparations in advance for conducting in-house PCR testing, including facility construction, equipment introduction, quality control of testing, and medical staff training.

At the same time, plans are underway to continuously improve passenger convenience related to quarantine by establishing the Incheon Airport Smart Quarantine app and operating kiosks for printing COVID-19 negative certificates.

Kim Kyung-wook, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, said, “By introducing rapid testing and in-house testing at the Incheon Airport COVID-19 Testing Center, we will drastically reduce testing time and enhance passenger convenience.” He added, “We plan to lead a safe, priority-first airport in the post-COVID era by proactively establishing the Incheon Airport Smart Quarantine platform, including the introduction of automatic fever detection kiosks, quarantine, and disinfection robots.”

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