668 Passengers Used Incheon Port Korea-China Ferry in One Day... 40% Increase Compared to Last Year

The number of passengers using the Korea-China international passenger ferries operating at Incheon Port International Passenger Terminal has been on the rise this year.

According to Incheon Port Authority (IPA) on the 20th, as of the 17th of this year, the average daily number of passengers on the five Korea-China international ferry routes at Incheon Port was 668. This represents a 40.3% increase compared to the average daily passengers of 476 from August to December last year, when Korea-China international ferry operations resumed after being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The average daily passengers by route this year are 204 for Lianyungang, 177 for Shidao, 128 for Yantai, 85 for Weihai, and 74 for Qingdao, respectively. However, the number of passengers this year remains at about 79% of the 843 daily passengers recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Passengers using the Korea-China ferry are arriving at Incheon Port International Passenger Terminal.
[Photo by Incheon Port Authority]

IPA plans to focus all efforts on stabilizing the operation of the international passenger terminal and attracting ferry passengers to revitalize Korea-China maritime tourism by improving facilities and services in response to the increasing Korea-China international passenger traffic.

IPA expects passenger transport on the Incheon-Dalian route to resume next month in addition to the currently operating five routes, and plans to hold a briefing session for local Chinese travel agencies next month. Furthermore, in April, IPA will work with related organizations to attract corporate incentive tours from Qingdao and Weihai to increase Korea-China ferry passengers.

Considering the inconvenience caused to passengers due to the lack of commercial facilities within the international passenger terminal, IPA will attract businesses and plans to start operating a cafe and a convenience store this month and next month, respectively.

Additionally, IPA aims to minimize passenger inconvenience by expanding Chinese language guidance on signboards, broadcasting public transportation usage information on electronic display boards, and providing terminal information through large screens.

Kim Sang-gi, Vice President of IPA’s Operations Division, said, "We will operate the international passenger terminal with the safety and convenience of passengers as our top priority," adding, "We will lay the foundation to reopen the era of one million Korea-China ferry passengers."

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