Incheon International Airport

Moving Walks

submitted by Otis

Introduction

Incheon International Airport has been expanding its capacity for passengers and cargo. Guided by its vision “Beyond an airport, changing the world,” the aim is to create a global mega-air hub — able to handle 106 million passengers a year — so Incheon is an airport that’s building for the future.

A newly extended Terminal 2 was unveiled in December 2024 as part of a US$3.5 billion investment, with the terminal extended by 600 m at both ends. That extension added capacity for an additional 29 million passengers a year above Terminal 2’s original capacity of 23 million passengers.

Critical to the airport’s growth plans is high-quality mobility infrastructure that can help move these many passengers smoothly and safely through the mega-terminal.

As part of this seven-year construction project, Otis Elevator Korea installed a total of 172 vertical-transportation units — 20 elevators, 80 escalators and 72 moving walks — between 2021 and 2024 in the expanded terminal.

The installation includes moving walks measuring 125 m, and two that measure 136 m. These are Asia’s longest continuous moving walks, and they required Otis innovation to deliver building the future of travel and helping people make their journeys and connections more seamless.

Project Description

How many passengers use a mega-hub airport in a single day? During April 2025 at Incheon International Airport, there were approximately 194,000 people arriving and departing on flights daily.

That’s almost six million people a month.[1] And that figure doesn’t include the family members, friends and colleagues who came to meet travelers or wish them a safe and happy journey.

With an incredible volume of people passing through, the airport is catering to every kind of traveler one could imagine — every age from newborns to senior citizens, every level of mobility and independence, everyone from the confident traveler to those looking for calm and reassurance — and doing it all day, every day.

Airports like Incheon International Airport understand their customers, their evolving expectations and wishes and their desire for a smooth, calm and steady journey throughout. Otis is a key part of making that passenger journey seamless for all travelers — committed to providing innovative mobility solutions that address these challenges and transform how people move through these structures safely and intuitively.

To cater to so many people traveling, the terminal is built to an impressive scale — covering 347,000 m². The departure screen is more than 77-m long and 8.45-m high.

The mega-terminal — which now stretches over four times its original length, thanks to the expansion project — required the introduction of Asia’s longest continuous moving walk, another landmark for Korea.

At a remarkable 136 m, the moving walks (and the 125-m consecutive walks) significantly ease and speed up passenger movement in passenger Terminal 2.

Dual motors have been installed on these long-distance moving walks to improve operational efficiency. While a single motor is typically sufficient for escalators or moving walks, the extended length required two motors for seamless operation.

Although this posed a new challenge for Otis’ manufacturing team in re-imagining an existing product, they successfully designed a synchronized dual-motor system to ensure stable performance.

Otis Korea has also proven its commitment to quality. Products are usually inspected in the factory in their semi-assembled state prior to handover. However, given its unique size, the 136-m moving walk was fully assembled in the factory for inspection and rigorous quality checks before disassembly and shipping to the site.

Following on-site installation at the airport, Otis Korea conducted another six rounds of quality testing.

Meeting Construction Challenges

Otis teams had to plan the installation meticulously to carefully thread work safely and efficiently around the many elements and stakeholders involved in the reconstruction of this huge infrastructure project and the complex construction schedules.

The Otis teams drew on their proven project management skills to plan meticulously in advance and develop a comprehensive schedule and timeline covering all stages, from factory order to on-site delivery, installation and testing. They took into account any constraints to minimize disruptions and enable swift responses during field operations.

The team navigated around port closures because of COVID-19. The construction schedule of the terminal meant there were challenges with space available for on-site equipment storage. The long-distance moving walks equipment had to be brought in before the curtain wall construction of the terminal was completed. This required careful consideration of the weather conditions to prevent exposure to moisture.

Deadlines were met, and the project was successfully completed thanks to teamwork and Otis’ rigorous project management and effective communication with all stakeholders.

Recognition

In total, Otis installed 20 elevators, 80 escalators and 72 moving walks to support passengers’ safe and connected journey through Terminal 2.

Otis Elevator Korea has been awarded a commendation from the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for its outstanding work on Incheon International Airport Terminal 2. Yunseok Song, manager of Incheon International Airport Corp.’s Terminal 2 Expansion Project, said:

“Otis has been a trusted partner of Incheon International Airport since its opening, demonstrating its commitment to quality and safety once again in this project. Despite the complexity of the process, Otis ensured seamless coordination with other projects in the terminal, successfully completing the installation without any delays. We were impressed by their rigorous quality management even after the installation. We sincerely appreciate Otis for leveraging its expertise to safely and successfully complete the installation of elevator, escalator and moving walk systems in the expanded area of Terminal 2.”

Conclusion

Since Incheon International Airport’s official opening in 2001, Otis Korea has installed a total of 650 elevators, escalators and moving walks across the airport, providing safe and comfortable rides for many millions of airport visitors. This most recent contribution to Terminal 2 serves as an exceptional highlight.

Nick Choi, Otis senior director of New Equipment, said:

“We are thrilled to have created a new landmark — the longest continuous moving walk in Asia — at Incheon International Airport, one of the world’s largest and busiest airports. We were able to contribute successfully to support the airport’s infrastructure expansion, thanks to our colleagues’ commitment to quality and safety. This project shows how Otis brings passion and innovation to reinvent experiences and provide better access for passengers of all ages and abilities. We take great pride in the dedication and commitment of everyone involved in delivering the highest quality standards.”

Reference

[1] airport.kr/co_en/4272/subview.do