Improving Public Service in Airport Immigration Process through Innovation

Abstract

Since 2005, Incheon International Airport was rated the best airport worldwide by Airports Council International every year. It is also rated as the world’s cleanest airport and the world’s best international transit airport by Skytrax (Skytrax 2017). As such, Korea is considered an international hub. Incheon Immigration Office is responsible for the annual inspection of more than 22 million passenger arrivals and departures. The administrative service of the immigration system became a criterion by which to evaluate the overall level of administrative services performed by overnmental organizations throughout Korea. At this time, customer satisfaction was lower than at other major airports, due in part to long wait times. As such, Korea began to look at innovating its immigration inspection process to improve customer satisfaction through more effective methods. An immigration inspection service has two primary requirements for delivering advanced inspection service: to promote security and efficiency, and to establish cooperation among various agencies. This case documents how the Incheon Immigration Office made large gains in efficiency at a low-cost burden.