AirAsia X diverts to Gimpo Airport, confusion arises between cabin crew and passengers

On 13 August, an AirAsia X Airbus A330-300 (registration 9M-XXF) operating flight D7 506 from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Seoul Incheon (ICN) diverted to Gimpo International Airport (GMP) due to adverse weather and air traffic congestion — but a miscommunication between the flight deck and cabin crew left many on board thinking they had already arrived at Incheon.

The flight was scheduled to land at Incheon at 19:50 local time but instead touched down at Gimpo at 20:08. Passengers reported that the captain’s arrival announcement was not correctly relayed to the cabin, leading crew members to inform travellers they were at Incheon.

It was only when passengers looked out the windows or checked their phones that they realised they were at Gimpo, about 35 km from their intended destination, and alerted the surprised cabin crew. One crew member reportedly remarked that her parents were waiting for her at Incheon.

The aircraft remained on the ground at Gimpo for about two hours before departing for Incheon, finally arriving at 22:59 — more than three hours behind schedule.

AirAsia X has apologised for the confusion, attributing it to an internal communication error, and has pledged to review its onboard information procedures. Travel vouchers were offered to the affected passengers.