I'm sure that there are many long-time Asia travellers out there who, like me, saw our smiles turn to guffaws as we read the description of Mr Gross' lovefest with Asian airports.

First, comparing an international airport in Korea with a small domestic airport pretty much anywhere in the U.S. is ridiculous. Of course Incheon is a breeze to get through, and clean, and all that. It's intended for people leaving or entering the country - as such, the government takes great pains to make it sparkle.

But to compare it to Charleston? It's apples and oranges. Had Gross wanted to do a fair and more accurate comparison, he would have bebopped from Incheon down the road to the old, and now domestic, airport in Seoul - Gimpo. There he would have seen what air travel in Korea is all about - lousy scheduling, a seemingly pathological inability to queue, decaying buildings, scary toilets, and nothing but lousy ramen noodles to eat.

And Gimpo, by the by, is one of the BETTER domestic aiports in Asia. Try flying pretty much anywhere in China, or the 'Stans, or , well, you get the picture. Seasoned Asia hands have thousands of colorful, scary, eye-popping stories about air travel in the regon.

As to the the author's revelling on not having to remove his shoes, liquids, and such - how was it that he noticed such trvialities (and missed, by the way, that many security stations at ICN do still require you to remove your shoes - it depends on your destination), and missed the omipresent paramilitary security forces toting automatic weapons throughout the terminal.

And, who goes to an airport for the fine cuisine?

tahall62:

Our excursions into Hong Kong were very picturesque. The airport is new and light.

One time we made a change over there with only 1 hour between flights . . . a gamble. Two flight personnel met us at the gates and escorted us through the airport, past customs, to our next flight. We were flying business class; but even so . . . I can not imagine that happening elsewhere.

If we stayed in Hong Kong, we would treat ourselves to the Mercedes Limo/Taxi instead of the ultra-modern or the smaller cabs. It was definitely a good experience and not expereinced else where in China such as Tiniajin airport.

Bangkok is an "ok" airport and probably typical (unless they remodeled it since last, of many big ones. We had to take our shioes off while they looked at the heels and soles. Patted down, etc. Its all in the game. Pitsanlouk was also a smaller airport; but, it was quaint to say the least.

You are correct on the poverty; Manila was bad and Bangkok showed it also. Beijing was crowded and also the air acrid in Winter. I will take our cities any time and the hustle of the airports also. One experience I had in Bamgkok was leaving my briefcase on a chair (preoccuppied) and walking away to the next terminal until I relized what I had done. 10 minutes later I returned to find it still there. I was fortunate as ny passport and travelers checks were in it or maybe it is just the people. A friend who lives there confided that he always felt safe there no matter where he walked.

It's actually not such a good comparison (nor that accurate a picture of Gimpo, which is aging but certainly not the hellhole you describe) . . . and there is little attention spent on domestic airports in Korea because there is virtually no reason to use them. With the exception of travel to the island province of Jeju, the country is much more easily traversed via limousine bus or train, including the high-speed KTX which goes the entire length of the country in about three hours. Essentially air travel is unnecessary in South Korea (that said, many of their smaller domestic airports are new and very nice, if tiny)

But even compared to a major airport like Hartfield or LAX, Incheon is nice. Really, really nice. And generally the security is run efficiently and politely, even when they do ask you to take off your shoes.

And those are not paramilitary troops patrolling the airport. All the troops you saw were either part of the ROK army or the police. I don't know how one could get the idea that Korea even has paramilitary forces . . .at any rate, most of them are young men doing their mandatory military service.