Tokyo Travel, Incheon Airport “Departure Procedures”

October 30, 2023 220 Views

This marks my fourth international trip, and concurrently, my second journey to Tokyo. However, heading to the airport is still somewhat unfamiliar. Therefore, I continue to create a “checklist” before going to the airport, ensuring I don’t miss anything and checking each item one by one during the departure process.

“Near Incheon Airport, Parking at Unseo Station”

Departing from Paju for the Tokyo trip, it’s notably inconvenient around Paju Heyri Art Village since there is no airport bus service. To take an airport bus from Paju, one needs to go to Paju Book City in Moonbal-dong. Instead of going that route, it’s much faster to take bus 2200 to Hapjeong, transfer to Hongdae, and then switch to the Airport Railroad.

Therefore, I chose to drive to the airport this time. Since long-term parking at Incheon Airport incurs some fees, I parked at Unseo Station’s public parking lot, which is relatively more affordable.

Unseo Station is only two stops away from Incheon Airport Terminal 1, so parking there and going to the airport is not particularly burdensome.

“Tasks Completed in Sequence at Incheon Airport”

The tasks performed sequentially at Incheon Airport are as follows. Generally, you would pick up Wi-Fi at Incheon Airport before departure. However, this time, we decided to pick up Wi-Fi at Tokyo Airport. Hence, this process was skipped at Incheon Airport.

Currency exchange to Japanese Yen at Shinhan Bank (You can quickly find it by applying through the Shinhan Bank mobile app in advance.)
Airline check-in & luggage drop-off
Baggage inspection & departure inspection
Duty-free shopping (Received items purchased from Shilla’s online duty-free shop at the delivery counter.)
Boarding the aircraft

“Exchanging Japanese Yen at Shinhan Bank”

Once again, I used the Shinhan Bank application for yen exchange. While there are several Shinhan Bank booths at Incheon Airport, I chose the Shinhan Bank branch in “Transportation Center B1F” since it’s the location I’m most familiar with. Information for Shinhan Bank Transportation Center branch is as follows:

If you want to learn more about Shinhan Bank’s “Exchange to Yen” through the Soll application, you can visit the following link:

Shinhan Bank Soll “Exchange to Yen” : Shinhan Bank “Sol”: Exchanging Japanese Yen

Shinhan Bank Incheon Airport Branch and Exchange Center:

Location: Next to Shinhan Bank branch on B1F of Transportation Center
Services: Currency exchange
Phone: 032-743-6000
Operating hours: 6:00 AM – 8:00 PM

“Airline Check-In and Baggage Drop-Off”

After completing the yen exchange, it’s time to check-in at the airline counter and drop off the luggage. In a typical scenario, you’d stand in line for this process. However, with “Air Seoul,” which I boarded this time, you could check in and select seats in advance through the application 48 hours before the flight.

Thanks to this, I could preoccupy the seat I wanted. All that remained at the airport was to visit the airline counter to drop off checked baggage, and the boarding preparation was complete.

“Departure Inspection”

The next task was to go to the departure area, undergo possession inspection, and receive departure inspection. Nowadays, automated inspection using fingerprints is prevalent, making departure inspections convenient. However, personally, my fingerprint isn’t read well, so I couldn’t fully utilize this convenient service, which was regrettable.

Nevertheless, departure inspection went smoothly.

“Receiving Duty-Free Items”

Once the departure inspection is complete, you enter the duty-free area. Here, you can shop at duty-free stores and receive pre-purchased duty-free items online. This time, I used Shilla Duty-Free to buy products in advance. I visited the Shilla Duty-Free counter to receive the items.

“Boarding the Aircraft from the Platform”

After completing essential tasks and spending some time, the scent of a bakery caught my attention. I spotted a bakery at the airport and decided to buy a snack. Nonetheless, there was still time.

While waiting briefly on the platform, the boarding time arrived. I could then board the aircraft from the boarding gate, which, for Air Seoul, was at Gate 105. This gate is located at the farthest end, quite a walk after taking the shuttle train. If you ever travel to Tokyo Narita Airport with Air Seoul, it’s good to note that the boarding gate is quite far.

“Incheon Yeongjongdo, Incheon Airport”