Seocho-gu to extend Airport Bus 6703 to Jamwon, Banpo areas starting next month

Residents of Jamwon-dong and Banpo-dong in Seoul's Seocho-gu will be able to travel directly to Incheon International Airport without transfers starting next month, as Airport Bus 6703 extends its route into the area.

Seocho-gu announced Monday that the bus will begin serving the Jamwon and Banpo neighborhoods on Tuesday, running all the way to Incheon airport.

The revised route will continue to stop at existing Gangnam-area stops before adding four new ones: Sindong Middle School (stop 22-181), Jamwon Catholic Church and Acro River View Apartment (22-205), New Core Outlet (22-207), and Banpo General Sports Complex (22-861). The total route distance will increase from 168 kilometers to 170 kilometers, and the number of stops will grow from 20 to 24. The number of buses in service (seven), the dispatch interval (45 to 60 minutes), and the first and last departure times will remain unchanged.

Parts of Jamwon-dong and Banpo-dong had previously lacked a direct airport bus connection, forcing residents to transfer multiple times by subway or bus while carrying heavy luggage.

In March, the district surveyed residents of Banpo 2-dong, Banpo 3-dong and Jamwon-dong on the proposed route change, with 99.3 percent — 969 of 976 respondents — expressing support. The Seoul Metropolitan Government attached a condition requiring the bus to operate with extra caution in pedestrian-heavy areas along the new stretch, noting that schools including Sindong Elementary School and Sindong Middle School are located along the route.

Seocho-gu District Mayor Jeon Seong-su said the change was the result of consultations with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the bus operator to address shifting transportation demand driven by reconstruction projects in Jamwon-dong and Banpo-dong and to ease residents' travel inconvenience. "We will continue to closely monitor changing local conditions and residents' transportation needs to improve transit services in ways that people can actually feel," he said.