Incheon International Airport has installed screens in the arrivals lobby that display, in real time, the location of arriving passengers, to give you a more accurate idea of how long until your party will be walking out the gate.
Think of it like Harry Potter's Marauder's Map.
For some background, I was over at Incheon airport earlier this week to pick somebody up. While standing at the arrivals gate, a kiosk screen caught my eye that I hadn't noticed before. Tucked a short ways back from the arrivals gate, sort of in the middle 90 degrees from the normal smaller flight info boards, was this screen. I assumed it was just another timetable board showing all the flight times and gates. But when I took a closer look, I noticed it was more.
This thing shows a real-time map of all arriving flights and passengers. You can see:
Anyway my photo stinks but here's a good clear close-up.
There are 5 "steps" the kiosk will display:
This could be very convenient in a few situations, like:
If you crave real-time data, add this to your arsenal of real-time Incheon airport data, along with:
Think of it like Harry Potter's Marauder's Map.
Background: I just now noticed it
For some background, I was over at Incheon airport earlier this week to pick somebody up. While standing at the arrivals gate, a kiosk screen caught my eye that I hadn't noticed before. Tucked a short ways back from the arrivals gate, sort of in the middle 90 degrees from the normal smaller flight info boards, was this screen. I assumed it was just another timetable board showing all the flight times and gates. But when I took a closer look, I noticed it was more.
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| Shot I took of the airport real-time arrivals kiosk. Sorry for the low quality. |
What it shows you
This thing shows a real-time map of all arriving flights and passengers. You can see:
- Animated airplanes circling above the 3D airport rendering, labeled with flight names.
- The airplanes land, and taxi, and reach their gates.
- Little colored stick men, representing the arriving passenger groups, wander the various stages of arrival on the airport map, labeled with flight names.
It dawned on me then how convenient this is. Instead of standing around mindlessly watching hoards of people coming through those doors like a chump, I could see right on this screen the progress of the stick man labeled with my friend's flight number. When the stick man got close to the final gate, I knew it was time. Sure enough, his passenger group came out within two minutes.
I must be slow on noticing this, because it looks like it came out over a year and a half ago, though I don't see anything about it in English news media. Maybe I just don't know what to call it. The Korean article calls it a 입국여객 수속단계별 위치 안내 디지털사이니지 or just a 도착승객 위치안내. "Arrivals Location Guide" sounds good.Arrivals Location Guide kiosks in service a year already
Anyway my photo stinks but here's a good clear close-up.
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| Arrivals Location Guide. Image: Korea Duty Free News |
There are 5 "steps" the kiosk will display:
- 착륙 전 - Pre-touchdown, still in the air
- 착륙 - Landed, taxiing to gate
- 탑승구 도착 - Plane arrived at airport gate, passengers disembarking
- 짐 찾는 곳 - Baggage claim area
- 입국장 도착 - Arrivals hall, aka will be walking out the door any moment
Why is this useful?
This could be very convenient in a few situations, like:
- You arrived a few minutes late to pick up your buddy. Damn. Did he come through yet? Is he just wandering around? Check this kiosk. Ah, he's still at baggage claim. Phew.
- You arrived on time, but you're starving. Do you really need to stand here scanning the faces of every traveler, or do you have time to grab a bite at that nice noodle place? Check the kisok. Ah, he's just deplaning right now. He'll be at least another 10-15 minutes. Time to get my grub on.
More real time info
If you crave real-time data, add this to your arsenal of real-time Incheon airport data, along with:
- 10원 Tips: Naver shows Incheon Airport departures terminal congestion
- 10원 Tips: Naver shows real-time Incheon airport parking congestion status
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