The Chosun Ilbo has a small photo gallery of stranded foreigners at Incheon International Airport on the 19th.
The JoongAng Daily reports that a lot of flights between Europe and Incheon have been cancelled recently.
The volcanic ash clouds in Europe have forced the cancellations of most flights to and from Europe at Incheon International Airport for four days straight. According to the Incheon International Airport Corporation, 41 flights out of 54 scheduled to leave for or arrive from Europe were canceled yesterday.
The Korea Herald says 127 flights in and out of Incheon were cancelled from Friday to "yesterday," and I assume "yesterday" is Monday since the news put on the website on the 19th hits newsstands on the 20th. The JoongAng Daily continues
On Saturday, 33 flights to and from Europe were canceled following 16 cancellations Friday. Over four days, Korean Air canceled 23 flights while Asiana Airlines canceled 8.
Nearly 200 foreigners with tickets to Europe waited at Incheon International Airport terminals.
Indeed, one of the stories lately is frustration at Incheon among unhappy passengers stranded for days. From the Associated Press a few hours ago:
At Incheon International Airport in South Korea, a group of about 30 frustrated passengers blocked a Korean Air ticketing counter and demanded a meeting with company officials to arrange travel to anywhere in Europe after they heard an Air France jet flew from the airport to the French city of Bordeaux.
They held up a makeshift sign saying, "We want to come back home," each word written on a separate piece of paper and held by an individual traveler.
"We need a flight, we need a time," Thierry Loison, who has been stuck since Friday at Incheon on the way back to France after a vacation in Bali, told Korean Air officials. "We were like animals this morning."
Passengers resting on blankets spread on the floor of a business center complained about the lack of hotel accommodations. They said they were only receiving a voucher for one meal a day at McDonald's and that they were running out of money.
From NoCutNews.
Well, if it's any consolation, Incheon consistently ranks among the best airports in the world.
29 comments:
Yup, I'm hoping to come to Korea shortly, but I think the volcano might stop me.
I was planning a week-long jaunt to England either from Hawaii, California, or Korea this summer, but it looks like it might not pan out. Even if the volcano has petered out by then, I think this will have a ripple effect on ticket prices.
And, yeah, Inchon isn't the worst airport in the world to get stuck in.
My fiancee is flying out of Japan tomorrow to come to Pittsburgh, and I'm hoping there are no delays between there and here.
Im heading back to the UK on 29th I hope this gets sorted by then
My girl works at Incheon and she has quite a few stories about how bad it really is. It was bad enough Saturday morning when she phoned me in a panic, asking me to help her solve a problem she had with all the cancellations... since then it's gotten pretty ugly
And, yeah, Inchon isn't the worst airport in the world to get stuck in.
It is if you're sleeping on the airport floor and eating one McDonald's meal a day for four days straight. (A LACK of hotel rooms? In Korea? Come on, who are they kidding?)
wow i just saw a segment on cnn this morning about how the dubai airport wasn't a bad airport to be stranded in because everyone gets free hotel room and 3 free meals a day! sounds like the incheon airport needs to step up their game if they wanna keep the title of best airport in the world!
If you'll look at those pictures, those people are not Korean.
Why would Inchon find hotel rooms or food for non-Korean people?
Please understand Korean culture.
These people need to grow up. That's the nature of travel -- acts of God and all that.
I once was at Incheon heading to Frankfurt via Bangkok. The pilot's window wouldn't close, so there were all kinds of delays. Had to take a flight from Bangkok to Helsinki, then back down to Frankfurt. Missed my ICE bullet train (had a ticket) and had to buy a same-day ticket (super expensive) and absorb the loss. I didn't complain.
They should simply get hotel rooms (there are like three hotels within 1000 meters of Incheon Airport.) Pay for their own food. Just suck it up and be adults.
Yes?
And they will pay for all this with what money?
First, they should have credit cards for emergencies. If not, then get money wired. There are banks at the airport. Wouldn't be easy, but nor is it impossible. Western Union is in downtown Seoul, I believe, but why not take the time they have and journey into the city?
Perhaps the airport could help with a bus and get everyone into the city who needs money wired.
Point is, they're complaining, but it's not Incheon's fault. It's their lack of preparation for the worst case scenario.
Those airport rankings are primarily based (if not entirely) on customer evaluations, if I remember correctly. So unless Inchon wants to drop a notch or two, they'd better do better than a single meal at McDonald's.
If I were those people, I'd use that as leverage.
And Todd T,
It ain't about what you deserve. It's about what you can get.
@David
True that! :)
The AP "passengers", the Korean media
"foreigners."
This article:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2919363
"According to Statistics Korea, 70 percent of Koreans were middle class in 2003 but last year the figure slipped to 67 percent. Meanwhile, Koreans classified as poor rose slightly during the period from 12 percent to 13 percent."
When can Koreans just refer to themselves as "people", and foreigners as "people"!
I guess I'm alone in thinking that the KTO is missing a golden PR opportunity by helping these folks out.
The "whoreishly" dressed blond in the middle is classic Korean reporting.
These people need to grow up. That's the nature of travel -- acts of God and all that.
Indeed. Some european passengers blockaded an Air Canada counter in Pearson. I struggle to understand what this accomplishes. Although, I was just listening to a This American Life podcast about a group of children stuck in Ohare airport during a snow storm. The woman narrating the piece had a interesting quip about when information doesn't flow, the crowd starts to make up its own information.
It's entirely possible such rumors float in groups of tired people. "Koreans are getting flights to Turkey". Stuff like that.
The signs reading "We want to come back home" need to be edited. They're in Korea, but Europeans can do better.
The first thing to do is take the train to Seoul and get a hotel. Eat and drink and have a nice time. Check in with your airline once a day. This is as much an opportunity as a problem.
I've had a flight cancelled & had to reschedule when the volcano blew ash over Canada last summer. Leaving the airport SOUNDS like a good idea, but if you do, you have a good chance of missing a window of opportunity if a seat opens up on a flight that gets you closer to your destination. And true,it's a good idea to have an extra credit card for emergencies, or to now spend all your funds on the last day of your vacation. Still, not everyone is as financially secure as Todd T.
when there's a massive tragedy,there's always some hard a@@ willing to contort how this is somehow the victims fault.
Then there are those of us who've been in Korea long enough to realize that as soon as one of those "foreign passengers" show ANY sign of frustration, that the stressed Korean Travel Info gal decided they were 'troublesome' and underserving of help, as I'm sure the Hangooks are getting.
Does anyone remember what Korean CDC gave the quarantine victims of the swine flu last year? A burger meal a day. Of course, that's the food of foreigners, a burger meal a day. So Incheon prob. thinks they are being very helpful. And Incheon might be a nice place, but it aint a cheap place to hangout at.
There are free showers on the 3rd floor, but you have to pay for soap etc if you dont have any handy. But no one probably told them about that. or its off limits to them.Maybe we should gather up donations of books, soap etc & send it to the stranded "foreign" passengers.
Interesting idea, Stephannie. I can certainly feel for the stranded passengers. Not only the inconvenience, but some may have jobs on the line, with employers who won't be so concerned about there being a natural disaster.
The KTO could step up and, I dunno, give them a tour of Gyeongbokgung or something. No, seriously, I'm sure the KTO could have found them rooms, if not in the hotels next to the airport than in the new town some 10 minutes away.
But a lot of what we have here is speculation. Some people speculating the Europeans are angry at the Koreans. Some people speculating the Koreans are being uncompromising to the 외국사람, some people speculating that there may or may not be rooms available . . .
the tourists have a right to be frustrated, but who knows where their frustration is directed. There's a lot Incheon could be doing, sure, if it wanted to be really nice, but it sounds like if any group should be held accountable for passengers' well-being, it's the airlines. But exactly how accountable can they be for a natural disaster, one I'm sure some of the passengers knew about when they left in the first place.
@steph
It's not a "tragedy"... it's travel.
And if one can't pay for food and soap, let alone $75 a day for a hotel room, then you shouldn't be traveling at all. I'm not a hardass, I'm a realist.
Who the fuck prepares for a volcano sperming ash for weeks on end?
Anyone know what happens to pets when this happens? Do they have to sit in quarantine? I had to give up my cat hours before check-in. Good luck finding a cat friendly place to stay in Seoul.It ain't easy. Koreans love to bitch about cats. Another reason I hate them.
I hope Hallasan blows up.
"The "whoreishly" dressed blond in the middle is classic Korean reporting."
Whoreishly? She's wearing a tank top like a couple of others girls when you look at the bigger picture. :P
Not all travelers are tourists. Some may not have been traveling because they have money to burn in exotic locations.
Not everyone can leave the airport. If you are on transit you may not have the visa requirements to leave the airport in Korea.
Here's a piece from Salon's Ask the Pilot. And the last graf:
"The overarching moral here, of course, is that we as humans remain at the mercy of nature. There are those things in the world over which he have little or no control. It's almost funny watching and listening to the frustrations of certain people, who see this crisis as one of human failure rather than simple human frailty."
http://www.salon.com/technology/ask_the_pilot/2010/04/20/iceland_volcano_airlines
"If you'll look at those pictures, those people are not Korean.
Why would Inchon find hotel rooms or food for non-Korean people?
Please understand Korean culture."
Why would they only find food and hotels for Koreans? Are you saying Korean culture is exclusionary? The airport must accommodate everyone, not just the people from the "host" country.
Jegidong, he was being sarcastic.
It sucks that this has happened. Some travellers do not have a lot of extra money but hopefully some would prepare for the worst. Crap does happen...
I agree with Brian: this is a huge opportunity for Incheon to step up and prove that Korean hospitality is number 1. As usual, they are hesitating to see what others are doing (and because it costs money to do so).
Great PR chance they are missing...oh well.
Point-Counterpoint with Todd T:
"Shanna, they bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash."
wow, one meal a day at mcdonalds, goddam thats an insult. yep, incheon and the kto made a big mistake, they could got a shuttle and arranged a small hotel, got some free vouchers to try Korean food, and people would go home saying how nice the Koreans were.
this is a big fuck up, too bad.
i gave up trying to defen korea ages ago. i just dodge the questions and take my salary.
man, a golden opportunity for their country. mcdonalds? once a day? how insulting
The least they could've done is put those poor folks in a hotel. Great customer service goes a lot further than the cost of a few hotel rooms.
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