Spotting Report: Seoul Incheon Airport
Having seen 71.2 million passengers pass through its doors in 2024, Seoul Incheon International Airport is one of the busiest airports in Asia, and currently hosts over eighty airlines from across the globe. With a non-stop stream of movements consisting of all sorts of aircraft from a vast array of airlines, it is hardly surprising that Seoul Incheon International Airport is a popular spot for aviation enthusiasts.
Until recently, thanks to its northern neighbour, South Korea was not a particularly welcoming country for aviation enthusiasts, with various reports of spotters being temporarily detained. Even today, unless at an airshow, planespotting at a military airfield, or one of the country’s multiple dual-use civilian-military airports such as Busan Gimhae, would still be rather ill-advisable. Fortunately, as a purely civilian airfield, so long as they are respectful and stick to the rules, most planespotters at Seoul Incheon International Airport can indulge in their hobby without drawing attention from the authorities. Indeed, in recent years, planespotting has become an increasingly popular pastime amongst Koreans.
Located on reclaimed land between two islands and sitting around seventy kilometres to the west of Seoul, there are a fair number of spotting opportunities to be had around Seoul Incheon International Airport. However, the most popular spot is the rooftop of a building on the western perimeter, which hosts a sort of miniature garden centre on the ground floor, the Haeseong Ssambap restaurant (해송쌈밥) on the first, and a café and lavatories on the second. So long as planespotters purchase a drink from the café, they are free to use the rooftop, which offers a good view of the airport’s two westernmost runways. This can be reached quickly and easily from the airport’s two terminals via either taxi or public bus, with lines 203, 206 and 223 all running between the terminals and this building.
Despite having lived in Seoul in 2016 and 2017, I had never properly ventured out to the restaurant to undertake a spotting trip. Thus, now armed with a proper DSLR, in July 2024, when revisiting the country that I once called home, I decided to make a couple of visits out to the rooftop, and whilst the conditions were hot and hazy, I had a great time photographing aircraft as they came and went – some of my photographs from these visits can be found below.
