AirAsia flight from KL to Incheon lands at wrong airport in South Korea

SEOUL – AirAsia, the Malaysia-based low-cost carrier, is under fire after a flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport landed at Gimpo International Airport in South Korea instead of its scheduled destination, Incheon Airport, news reports said on Aug 14.

Originally scheduled to reach Incheon at 7.50pm (6.50pm in Singapore) on Aug 13, AirAsia Flight D7 506 reportedly touched down at Gimpo, 35km from Incheon, at 8.08pm after circling in the air.

According to passengers on the flight, after the captain announced they had arrived at Incheon, people stood up to retrieve their bags from the overhead compartments, but some looked out of the windows and checked their phones, and realised they were at Gimpo.

“Everyone panicked. It seemed the cabin crew didn’t know we had landed at Gimpo until passengers told them,” Ms Lee Mi-hyun, a passenger in her 40s who was returning from a trip to Malaysia with her husband and eight-year-old daughter, told The Korea Herald.

“One crew member even said she needed to call her parents, who were waiting for her at Incheon International Airport.”

What caused the flight to divert to Gimpo was “turbulence” over Incheon Airport. The flight departed for Incheon about two hours later at 10.17pm after refuelling, according to the Korea Airports Corp.

Ms Lee noted that the crew failed to adequately handle the situation during the two hours before departure for Incheon.

“They appeared just as confused as the passengers. No water was offered and there was almost no food left on board, leaving passengers with children upset. Some even said they would rather get off at Gimpo before the plane departed for Incheon,” she said.

The captain and crew apologised over the public announcement system as the plane headed to Incheon, where it landed at 10.59pm, said Ms Lee.

Some passengers criticised the airline for failing to provide a clear explanation of the situation.

“During the two hours before we departed for Incheon again, there was no clear explanation of what caused the landing error or any effort to reassure passengers,” another passenger surnamed Ryu, 39, told The Korea Herald.

In a statement on Aug 14, AirAsia X clarified that the flight was diverted to Gimpo for refuelling following air traffic congestion at Incheon due to adverse weather conditions.

The carrier said the captain followed standard operating procedures, including keeping passengers informed of the diversion in English initially. However, there was a miscommunication in the cabin crew announcement upon landing, which the captain promptly clarified, it added.

AirAsia X chief executive Benyamin Ismail said: “We will also review our internal announcements and onboard information-sharing processes to ensure greater clarity in such situations.”

He added that travel vouchers will be offered to affected passengers as a goodwill gesture. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK