Korean Air to roll-out bag drop counters at domestic airports

According to the airline, the change will enable Korean Air to provide more efficient, convenient baggage check-in services to self-check-in users. From September, passengers who use the self-check-in through mobile, web services or airport kiosks can choose their seats and reduce waiting time at the airport.

At Incheon International Airport, 70 per cent of economy class passengers used the self-check-in in August. As a result, bag drop counters were crowded, causing passengers to wait in long lines during peak hours. The transformation of counters will be applied to all domestic airports used by Korean Air.

As of August 13, all of the economy class check-in counters at Gimpo International Airport, in both international and domestic terminals, were converted to bag check-in counters for self-check-in passengers. The service will be rolled out at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 from September 1st.

The family care service counter, used by passengers requiring assistance such as unaccompanied minors, pregnant passengers and so on, as well as first class, prestige class and Morning Calm counters will continue normal operations.

The counters for United States-bound economy class passengers at Incheon International Airport will also continue normal operations. In the beginning, Korean Air employees will assist passengers at airport kiosks and operate help desks in each section to assist passengers who are having problems checking in.

Korean Air also plans to introduce a self-tagging service by the end of 2019, which will allow passengers to pick seats and register baggage at the same time while checking in at the kiosk. This service is expected to cut down over 30 per cent of check-in time for each passenger. Passengers can simply print out their baggage tags at the kiosk and put them onto their baggage, then drop them at the bag drop counter.

Moving forward, Korean Air will continue to expand and develop self-check-in services to improve passenger convenience.