Seoul Gimpo Intl Airport (GMP) Flights & Information

Gimpo International Airport (GMP) is the original city-center airport for Seoul, replaced as the city’s main international airport by the new mega-facility at Incheon (ICN) in 2001. Today, Gimpo offers both domestic flights and limited services to a few older city-center airports around east and northeast Asia, like Tokyo Haneda (HND) and Taipei Songshan (TSA).

These routes can save quite a bit of time compared with getting to the newer outskirts airports like Tokyo Narita (NRT) or Taipei Taoyuan (TPE), and Gimpo’s compact terminals and location closer to the city mean that if you can fly to or from Gimpo, you should. Here’s what you’ll find if you do fly through GMP.

Airport terminals and layout

Flights from Gimpo are split into 2 terminals – the domestic terminal to the south and the international terminal to the north. The two are connected by the underground rail and metro station that serves both terminals, with the Lotte Mall, hotel and entertainment complex in the middle as well.

It’s unlikely that you’ll be transiting domestic-to-international via Gimpo, but there’s a bus that connects the domestic and international terminals roughly every 15 minutes just in case. If you do need to connect, I’d recommend using Incheon instead, since that airport is intended as a connecting hub unlike Gimpo’s current city-to-city, point-to-point design.

Arriving in Gimpo

If you’re arriving on a domestic flight from elsewhere in the Republic of Korea, you’ll simply walk off the plane, down past baggage reclaim, and out into the arrivals area of the domestic terminal. From there, you can pick up ground transportation into the city or to elsewhere in the country.

Internationally, you’ll have sorted out your visa or K-ETA electronic travel authorization in advance. On arrival you just add the immigration and customs steps. These include filling out and presenting the arrivals card (a simple paper form) to an immigration officer, collecting your bags, and then passing through customs with your customs declaration.

It’s easiest to use the Korea Customs Declaration for Travelers app on your phone, but you can also use the customs authority’s mobile site. You’ll want to make sure you have the address and phone number where you’re first staying in Korea on hand, because you’ll need it for the forms. I usually save this as a screenshot on my phone so I have it on hand if an officer asks, too.

Getting to and from GMP by public transit

Gimpo Airport is really well served by public transportation – arguably better so than the more distant Incheon.

Line 5 (purple) and Line 9 (grey-beige) of the Seoul metro subway system stop at the airport, and offer many stops into central Seoul, as well as connections to most other lines of the system. Unless I have a lot of luggage with me, this is usually how I get into Seoul from Gimpo.

Gimpo is also on the airport railroad line that travels between Seoul Station in the city center and Incheon Airport out to the west, as well as the Seohae Line that serves the western areas of the metropolis. The airport is also on the Gimpo Goldline light rail metro line that extends out to districts to the northwest of Gimpo itself.

How to get to and from Gimpo by car, taxi and Uber

Uber works well in Seoul and will summon you a choice of a standard taxi, a larger deluxe taxi, the black executive service or a green electric vehicle. UberX, where drivers offer rides with their own personal cars, isn’t available in Seoul.

Local rideshare alternatives may be helpful, including the visitor-focused TABA app from the local government that brings you taxis. The other big one is k.ride – basically a visitor version of the Kakao T rideshare app affiliated with the KakaoTalk social media app and internet platform. These 2 visitor-market apps are better for travelers than their local equivalents because they take international credit cards and signing up is easier.

By and large, Uber works well and you may already have an account so this is often easiest. If you think you might want to use either TABA or k.ride, I’d recommend downloading and creating accounts while you’re still at home and won’t get any overseas fees in case you need to verify your phone number.

Taxis are highly organized based on the size, luxury level and in some cases destination. There are separate taxis for cities outside Seoul. If you’re heading into central Seoul, you want either the standard taxi, slightly nicer deluxe taxi or the larger jumbo taxi.

The standard taxi is roughly half the price of the others, and all typically take about 40 to 70 minutes into town depending on where you’re heading. There’s a time and fare estimation table on the airport website but note that there’s a late evening and early morning surcharge.

Security lines and the departures area at GMP

While Gimpo is relatively small and convenient, security can get very busy, especially in the domestic terminal. Waits of more than half an hour are not uncommon during rush-hour periods, although it’s a well-organized line that moves well.

There’s a live boarding time information service for the domestic terminal on the airport homepage – you might want to give that a look on the day of your flight so you have an idea of what to expect, but keep in mind it can change quickly.

If you’re flying internationally, you’ll need to keep any liquids, sprays or gels to limits that are pretty similar to most other countries. Each individual item must be in a container of less than 100 milliliters, (3.4 ounces). All of these must be contained within a resealable clear plastic bag with a 1-liter capacity (just above 1 quart). Basically, if what you’re carrying would be fine for the US or Europe, it’ll be fine here too.

Good news if you’re flying domestically, though: There are no liquid restrictions or limits, though your bags will, of course, still be screened for anything dangerous.

Shopping and dining at the airport

You’ll find a variety of shopping and dining options both before and after security at Gimpo International Airport. My favorites include Paris Baguette for delicious sandwiches and cakes (on the first floor in the domestic terminal and the second floor in the international terminal) and Lotteria, Korea’s famous burger chain, which has multiple branches in the airport. Try the shrimp burger.

CU and 7-Eleven convenience stores are also very handy, especially if you’re on one of Korea’s many low-cost carriers – remember that there’s no liquid limit on domestic flights, so you can bring bottles of water on board. I usually grab an iced drink for the preboarding wait, plus a couple of kimbap rolls and a Chilsung cider for the flight.

If I have quite a bit of time to spend (an early hotel checkout but late afternoon flight, for example) then I’ll usually head on over to the massive Lotte Mall at the airport after checking in and dropping my bags. It has a wider variety of food and drink outlets – my go-to is Changhwadang for the tasty mandu dumplings.

Lounges and free Wi-Fi at Gimpo International Airport

Most airlines offering business class from Gimpo will have a small lounge for the use of business passengers and frequent flyers. The real benefit of using Gimpo over the more distant Incheon is that you don’t have to hang around the airport as long waiting for your flight to depart, so most Gimpo lounges are modest. They’re simple affairs with a limited offering of food and drinks.

Korean Air has lounges in both the domestic and international areas – both are after security, and coincidentally both are on the 4th floor of their respective terminals. These are also available to some frequent flyers from the airline’s SkyTeam partner airlines (which include Delta Air Lines) who are traveling on Korean Air.

Asiana Airlines is in the process of merging into Korean Air, so its Gimpo lounges are likely to merge too, and have been temporarily closed at points. Check with the airline for what’s currently available, including for its Star Alliance partner airline frequent flyers, like those with status on Air Canada or United Airlines.

Priority Pass members in the international terminal can use the Sky Hub lounge near gates 35 and R1. This is also accessible to those purchasing a day pass. Genuinely, though, I think I’d probably spend the money on a good meal within the airport instead. Wi-Fi is available in the terminal, and it’s free and fast. Look for the “GMP free Wi-Fi” network.