Seoul Flights

After passing through Seoul Incheon (ICN) airport I have to recommend it as the best transit airport I've been through.

The airport is clean, open and easy to navigate. There are tons of Restaurants and Shops to waste time in while waiting for a flight.

A first rate hotel is directly attached and you can rent rooms for hours if you have a long layover.

Showers and massages cater to overseas fliers and the transit lounges on the upper level are a great place to lose that airport feeling.

If you are looking for a good airport to hop through asia on and have tired of Japan, give ICN a try.

Incheon Airport is the gateway to Korea. It is located an hour west of Seoul, on an island outside of Incheon. Incheon is a beautiful, modern airport that opened in 2002, just in time for the World Cup.

To get from Incheon Airport to Seoul take a bus or a taxi. The subway/train is being extended to the airport, but not yet.

The new gateway to South Korea and Seoul, the impressive Incheon International Airport is now the international airport of choice for travelers. There are tons of flights arriving into the airport on a daily basis. Whether you are coming from America, Europe, Africa, Australia or other parts of Asia, this will probably be your first glimpse of Korea. The attendants are friendly and cheerful. Do take comfortable shoes as the distances are long in this huge airport.

All international flights arrive at Incheon International Airport. It is situated in Incheon which is about 50 kilometres from Seoul in western direction. It was openend it 2001 and built on an island.

Domenstic flights arrive and depart at the old Gimpo Airport. But some cities (like Busan) can be also reached directly from Incheon Airport.

Airport tax is 15.000 won for international flights and 4.000 won for domestic flights.

The picture on your left shows the new international airport in Incheon. Thanks to Radio Korea International in Seoul for this postcard! (It is not allowed to take photos of the aiport.)

.... seen from the airplane. After we had heavy turbulances between Beijing and Ulan-Bataar, the sky began to clear up and I had a fantastic sight to the earth. I got up more often and took some pics. And this must be some where over Mongolia. Unfortuneatly I can see no sheeps ....

You gotta fly! It's a long trip from the U.S. - about thirteen hours in the air if I remember correctly.
The subway system is awesome - timely, safe, quick. Seoul is like any other large city and many things can be reached by hoofing it. Walking was always one of my favorite ways to get around, that way you get to know the area you are staying in better, can meet the Korean people and do lots of shopping!

Right now Kimpo Airport is where all international flights land but the brand new airport will open at the end of March to make way for all the flights that will be arriving for the 2002 World Cup. Kimpo is a little old right now and quite cramped in the baggage and flight check in area: we spent a lot of time in there...

At this point, I can't recommend Asiana Airlines one bit. Read my travelogue for details on why. I had heard some good things about this airline and it was the cheapest airfare. Even without the delays, storms and disasters, I found the regular in flight service to be lacking. I am curious to hear what other people think of this airline and if my experience is a unique one (hopefully it is!).