No More Baggage Re-Screening for Transfers in Atlanta and LA

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Mobility Innovation Committee Grants Regulatory Exemptions for 14 Cases

In the future, travelers heading to Atlanta, Seattle, or Los Angeles in the United States will be able to utilize remote baggage screening for checked luggage. Remote screening is a program in which information about baggage departing from Incheon is sent in advance to the United States, allowing transfer screening to be completed remotely. As a result, upon arrival, passengers are exempt from re-screening and re-checking their baggage. For those arriving at their final destination, customs inspection is waived since the screening has already been completed in advance. For passengers in transit, the process of collecting and re-checking baggage can be skipped, thereby reducing transfer times.

On November 25, at the 7th Mobility Innovation Committee meeting, the committee approved the application from the Korean Air consortium and decided to grant regulatory exemptions for this initiative. The committee is chaired by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and consists of both government officials and private sector members. At this meeting, exemptions were granted for 14 cases that had previously been difficult to demonstrate due to regulatory barriers.

Remote baggage screening was introduced on the Incheon-Atlanta route in August. Initially, it was only applied to passengers who had agreed in advance to provide personal information. However, with the newly granted exemption under the Personal Information Protection Act, the program can now be applied regardless of prior consent.

Travelers at Gimpo International Airport's international terminal are checking in their luggage. Photo by Kang Jinhyung aymsdream@

At the same committee meeting, an exemption under the Motor Vehicle Management Act was granted to allow the use of autonomous driving functions in protected zones for vulnerable road users. Autonomous A2Z, an autonomous driving software company, and Lotte Innovate had submitted applications for this exemption. Hyundai Motor Company also received an exemption under the Passenger Transport Service Act for its artificial intelligence (AI)-based rural taxi demand-responsive service. This allows rural individual taxi operators to obtain a limited license for demand-responsive passenger transportation (DRT) in addition to their existing license.

Additionally, an exemption under the Parking Lot Act was granted to allow unused parking spaces in off-street and annexed parking lots within urban areas to be used for parcel transshipment operations. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport expects that utilizing these unused spaces as urban logistics hubs will help reduce the travel distance of delivery vehicles. Exemptions were also granted for projects such as freight transport using hydrogen-powered tractors, a digital vehicle scrapping platform for registered vehicles in Jeju City, and vehicle rental services in the event of freight truck accidents.

Bae Seongho, Director General for Mobility at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "We will also strengthen post-incubation support so that innovative mobility services can become an integral part of daily life and the public can truly experience their benefits."

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