It was revealed that the actual baggage handling capacity of the baggage handling system (BHS) installed at Inchon International Airport could be substantially low compared with the forecast number of passengers due to original design flaw.
The BHS is the equipment used when passengers check their baggage, and if its handling capacity cannot catch up with the volume of baggage concentrated simultaneously, the delay flights can be caused due to a serious backlog.
¡°The volume of baggage dealt with within an hour was 600 in the original plan, but only 450 to 550 pieces of baggage by line could be handled according to several test operations,¡± Inchon International Airport Authority President Kang Dong-Suk said Monday. ¡°The increase of the BHS¡¯s capacity is inevitable because its current capacity to handle baggage is far short of the level of demand by airlines (maximum 900 and usually more than 750 pieces of baggage) not to mention of designed capacity.¡±
President Kang explained that he requested officially to the Korea Airports Authority to convert the second international line building of Kimpo Airport into a city terminal by May or June, two or three months ahead of schedule to cope with the expected piling of baggage.
¡°We plan to prepare for the lack of handling capacity by adding two BHS lines for group passengers at the passenger terminal by the end of July,¡± he added.
However, it seems that the backlog during peak hours cannot be avoided, because the conversion of the second international line building of Kimpo Airport, and additional installation of the BHS line for group passengers might take at least six months in the facility repair and maintenance, and connection to the main line.
At the same time, some point out that the originally planned baggage handling capacity was just a result of another desk administration not reflecting Koreans¡¯ travel habits.
In relation to this, Lee Pil-Won, vice president of the Airport Authority, said in a recent press conference that the BHS at Inchon Airport was designed to deal with 1.5 pieces of baggage per passenger.
¡°Although the capacity satisfies International Air Transport Association¡¯s recommended capacity, there is some problem in the handling capacity, considering outbound Koreans usually check more than two pieces of baggage,¡± Lee said.
Especially during the peak season of summer, the boarding procedure is highly likely to delay.
The authority has asserted, since the beginning of this year, that the baggage handling capacity is at a suitable level in spite of the requests to improve the facility by Airlines Operation Committee, a consultative body of domestic and foreign airlines.