Incheon Airport AI Guide Wins Red Dot's Main Award, One of the World's Top Three Design Honors

[Financial News] Incheon International Airport has won a main award at the Red Dot Design Award, one of the world's three major design awards, for a passenger guidance service using artificial intelligence (AI). Its virtual guides received high marks for providing real-time, interactive guidance on flights and immigration procedures, as well as for strengthening multilingual support and accessibility for people with disabilities. Incheon Airport plans to expand AI-based services to improve passenger convenience and strengthen its competitiveness as a smart airport.
Incheon International Airport Corporation said on the 9th that its Incheon Airport AI Human Passenger Guidance Service (ICN A.I.) had won the main award in the Brand & Communication category at the 2026 Red Dot Design Award.
The Red Dot Design Award is considered one of the world's three major design awards, alongside Germany's iF Design Award and the U.S. IDEA Design Award. It evaluates innovation and completeness in fields including product design, brand and communication, and design concepts. This year's ceremony was held at Konzerthaus Berlin in Germany on the 6th (local time).
The AI guidance service that won the award is a digital human-based passenger guidance system introduced by Incheon Airport in January this year, making it the first public institution to introduce such a system. AI virtual guides recognize airport users' questions and provide interactive information on flights, how to use airport facilities, ground transportation, and immigration procedures.
The service is installed in front of the C/D and L/K check-in counters in the departure hall on the third floor of Terminal 1. It was designed to let users find the information they need through conversation, using airport-specific guidance data.
The service's multilingual support has been enhanced to meet the needs of an international airport with many foreign visitors. It provides voice guidance in four languages—Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese—while text-based chat supports a total of 12 languages, including Spanish, French, Arabic, and Vietnamese.
Barrier-free design and a Braille keyboard have also been incorporated for passengers with disabilities. The improved accessibility, making airport information easy to use regardless of language or physical limitations, is cited as a key reason for the award.
After winning the main award in the Customer Experience category at Germany's iF Design Award last year for its mobile airport guide app, Incheon Airport+, the airport took home a Red Dot award this year for its AI guidance service, marking two consecutive years of global design award wins.
Kim Beom-ho, acting president of Incheon International Airport Corporation, said, “I find it very meaningful that Incheon Airport's efforts to drive smart innovation and improve passenger convenience have been recognized on the global stage through this award,” adding, “We will continue to accelerate the realization of a smart airport powered by advanced technology, improve passenger convenience, and strengthen the competitiveness of future airports.”

[email protected] Kim Dong-ho Reporter