Most travelers don’t actually choose between Gimpo and Incheon. The airline chose for you the moment you booked a specific route, because only certain airlines fly certain routes into Gimpo at all. Open your e-ticket and look at the three-letter airport code. If it says ICN, you’re landing at Incheon and none of this changes your booking. If it says GMP, you’re landing at Gimpo, which sits far closer to central Seoul than Incheon does, and that’s good news unless your flight is due in close to or after 11pm.

Why the airline decides more than you do

Gimpo only handles international flights to a short list of cities in Japan, China, and Taiwan, and even within that list, not every airline that flies the route uses Gimpo. Some fly the same city pair into Incheon instead. The table below is the full 2026 international schedule for Gimpo.

Destination	Airlines flying into Gimpo
Tokyo (Haneda)	Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Osaka (Kansai)	Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, Peach Aviation
Nagoya (Chubu)	Peach Aviation only
Beijing (Capital)	Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Air China
Beijing (Daxing)	China Southern Airlines
Shanghai (Hongqiao)	Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines
Taipei (Songshan)	트리니티항공 (Trinity Airlines), Eastar Jet, China Airlines, EVA Air
Kaohsiung	Jeju Air, 트리니티항공 (Trinity Airlines), Tigerair Taiwan

Two details in that list decide the answer for a lot of readers. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways don’t fly their own aircraft into Incheon from Japan at all, so if you’re booked on either one, you land at Gimpo whether you’d have chosen it or not. Jeju Air used to fly Gimpo to Nagoya but moved that route to Incheon back in 2016, so if a search result tells you Jeju Air serves Gimpo–Nagoya, it’s out of date. Everywhere outside this list, from Southeast Asia to North America to Europe, Gimpo has no international service, so you land at Incheon by default.

The transfer into Seoul, side by side

If your ticket does put the choice in your hands, here’s what each airport actually costs and takes.

From Incheon:

Option	Adult fare	Time
AREX express train, Terminal 1	13,000 KRW (discounted) / 18,500 KRW (full fare)	43 min
AREX express train, Terminal 2	13,000 KRW (discounted) / 19,100 KRW (full fare)	51 min
AREX all-stop train, Terminal 1	4,750 KRW	not published
AREX all-stop train, Terminal 2	5,350 KRW	not published
Limousine bus 6001 (Yongsan, Seoul Station, Myeongdong, Dongdaemun)	17,000 KRW	not published, runs 05:39 to 22:49 from Terminal 2

From Gimpo:

Option	Destination	Adult fare	Time
AREX all-stop train	Seoul Station	not published	22 min
AREX all-stop train	Hongik University Station	not published	14 min
Line 5 subway	Yeouido Station	not published	27 min
Line 5 subway	Gwanghwamun Station	not published	40 min
Line 5 subway	Wangsimni Station	not published	53 min
Limousine bus 6101	Changdong / Nowon	9,000 KRW	about 50 min

Line them up and the gap is obvious. The fastest, most expensive way out of Incheon still takes 43 to 51 minutes to reach Seoul Station. The all-stop train out of Gimpo reaches the same station in 22 minutes, and Gimpo doesn’t need an express product to compete because the whole airport is already sitting inside the city’s transit map.

Is this your trip?

• If your airline is Japan Airlines or All Nippon Airways → you land at Gimpo, and Incheon isn’t a routing option on those carriers from Japan.
• If you’re flying in from anywhere outside Japan, China, or Taiwan → you land at Incheon, since Gimpo’s international list doesn’t reach further than that.
• If you booked Korean Air or Asiana Airlines out of Tokyo or Osaka → check the airport code on your confirmation, because both airlines fly those cities into Gimpo and into Incheon depending on the specific flight.
• If your Gimpo-bound flight is scheduled to land close to or after 11pm → read the next section before you book anything else for that night.

When the clock decides for you

Gimpo runs under a legal curfew: no aircraft may take off or land there between 23:00 and 06:00, except in an emergency. This has been the rule since June 1993. Incheon has no such curfew and operates around the clock.

That matters because a Gimpo-bound flight that’s running late and expected to arrive close to 23:00 can be diverted to Incheon instead. Korean aviation reporting documents this as a real, recurring outcome, not a hypothetical one, with cases of airlines rerouting Gimpo-scheduled arrivals to Incheon in recent years when the curfew window was at risk. If your itinerary has a Gimpo arrival scheduled anywhere close to 11pm, don’t book a hotel, a late check-in, or onward transport that assumes you’ll land at Gimpo on time. Build in the possibility that you’ll actually walk off the plane at Incheon.

Mistakes visitors make within days of landing

Assuming you can just pick the nicer option. The airport isn’t a preference you set at checkout, it’s fixed by the specific flight you booked. Comparing prices on a booking site tells you nothing about which airport you’ll land at until you check the code on the ticket itself.

A late Gimpo flight can also end up at Incheon, which is the curfew problem above. It catches people who assumed “my flight lands at Gimpo” is a fact rather than a plan.

Treating the AREX express and all-stop trains as the same thing. Both run under the “airport railroad” name, but the express train needs its own ticket and its own platform, while the all-stop train is boarded with a transit card through a normal turnstile. Walking up to the express platform with only a transit card, or buying an express ticket when you only needed the all-stop train, wastes money or time depending on which way you get it wrong.

Private pickup companies get mistaken for the official taxi fare, too. Search results for “Incheon airport taxi price” surface private vendors quoting flat rates that look like an official price list.

Taxi type	Official meter starting fare	Private flat-rate quote to Myeongdong/Gwanghwamun
Standard (mid-size)	4,800 KRW	85,000 KRW
Deluxe / large	7,000 KRW	120,000 KRW

The 4,800 KRW and 7,000 KRW figures are what starts the meter at Incheon Airport, not the total trip cost. Seoul and Gyeonggi-registered taxis don’t add the usual out-of-zone surcharge while moving within the airport’s joint service zone (Seoul, Incheon, Goyang, Gwangmyeong, Gimpo, and Bucheon), so a metered ride into most of Seoul won’t carry that extra charge. Late-night surcharges still apply on top of the meter: standard taxis add 20% from 22:00 to 23:00, 40% from 23:00 to 02:00, and 20% from 02:00 to 04:00, while deluxe and large taxis add a flat 20% from 22:00 to 04:00. The 85,000 KRW and 120,000 KRW figures above are a private pickup company’s separate flat-rate product, and that company also charges a 20,000 KRW pickup fee on top, which has nothing to do with what a metered taxi will actually charge you.

What a family of four actually pays

Take a family of four flying into Incheon Terminal 1, riding the express train on arrival and again on departure. Four express seats each way, at the discounted fare, add up fast.

Switch that same family to the all-stop train, tapping a transit card instead of buying express tickets, for both the arrival and departure ride.

That’s 104,000 KRW for the express train across the whole trip against 38,000 KRW for the all-stop train, a difference of 66,000 KRW for four extra minutes on two train rides.

If you don’t have a transit card yet, a single-journey paper card on the all-stop line costs 100 KRW more than the fare, plus a separate 500 KRW deposit that’s refunded when you return the card at a station machine. None of that changes the conclusion: for a family carrying luggage but not carrying a deadline, the all-stop train is the cheaper way between Incheon and Seoul Station by a wide margin, and the express train earns its price only when the 43 minutes actually matters more than the money.

Booking the transfer, step by step

1. Check your e-ticket or booking confirmation for the airport code, ICN or GMP, before you plan anything else.
2. If you’re landing at Incheon and want the fastest ride, reserve an AREX express seat in advance at the official reservation page: https://www.airportrailroad.com/ticket/rsv
3. If you’re landing at Incheon and want the cheaper ride, skip the reservation. Tap a transit card at the all-stop AREX gate; the fare table is published at https://www.airportrailroad.com/train/normal/fare
4. If you’re landing at Gimpo, use the subway, the all-stop train, or a limousine bus with no advance booking at all. Korea Airports Corporation’s official Gimpo transport page lists all three: https://www.airport.co.kr/gimpo/cms/frCon/index.do?MENU_ID=1290
5. If your Gimpo-bound flight is scheduled for late evening, read the curfew explainer before you commit to onward plans: https://www.khan.co.kr/article/202311270600011
6. If you’re taking a taxi from Incheon, check the official fare page first so a private flat-rate quote doesn’t get mistaken for the metered price: https://www.airport.kr/ap_ko/987/subview.do

Where to book

There’s an actual reservation to make only for one of these options: the AREX express train. Book it at https://www.airportrailroad.com/ticket/rsv, or skip the reservation and buy a same-day ticket at the terminal if your plans are flexible.

Everything else on this comparison has nothing to book. The all-stop train, the Gimpo subway lines, and both limousine buses (6001 and 6101) are pay-as-you-go: tap a transit card or pay cash at the door, and the fare is whatever the official fare table above says on the day you travel. A taxi is the same, you don’t reserve a metered cab in advance, you just get in one and confirm it’s running on the meter rather than a private flat-rate arrangement.

Sources I checked

1. AREX official express-train fare pageKorean source
2. AREX official all-stop-train fare table by station pairKorean source
3. Namuwiki Gimpo Airport transport section with travel timesKorean source
4. Incheon airport limousine official route-6001 fare and T2 schedule pageKorean source
5. Korea City Air Terminal (CALT) official page for route 6101Korean source
6. Incheon Airport official taxi fare pageKorean source
7. Private airport pickup vendor's fixed-rate taxi price listKorean source
8. Kyunghyang Shinmun explainer on airport curfew hoursKorean source