On December 12, a passenger at Qingdao Airport was detained at the boarding gate because he was carrying a large amount of food and was overweight, and smashed his luggage in a hurry, causing the flight to be delayed for one hour. This traveler was not alone, but one of a group of people known as "food customers". Why do they fly so "loaded"?Behind this is the high food rate in South Korea, as well as the airline's high-end membership preferential policies.
"Grain Passengers" is usually a unified group, with Qingdao Jiaodong Airport as the main activity base, and recently expanded to Beijing Daxing Airport. They traveled back and forth between China and South Korea, taking advantage of the airline's free checked baggage allowance for international flights and the weight allowance for hand luggage, and carefully calculated and carried large quantities of food across the border.
The carry-on luggage of these "food passengers" can weigh up to 30-50 kg because it is filled with vacuum-packed grain, while the weight limit of the cabin luggage rack is generally 38 kg, so heavy hand luggage poses a huge hidden danger to flight safety. It has been reported that the cabin luggage rack has even been fractured as a result, and excess baggage may lead to hidden loading of the aircraft, which seriously affects flight safety.
On the other hand, South Korea's food problem is not a one-day problem. According to Statistics Korea, South Korea's rice production in 2020 decreased by 6 percent year-on-year4% to 35070,000 tons. Although there has been a rebound in the 2022-2023 season, the rice planting area set by South Korea** for the 2023-2024 season has decreased by 51%, indicating that future production is less than 6 million tons. As a result, Korean rice retail sales** soared to 341-6.$24 per kilogram, which is about three to four times that of Chinese rice**.
In the face of high cultivation costs and stable pricing subsidies for rice**, Korean rice** remains high. This not only boosted the consumer index, but also led to a decrease in farmers' willingness to plant and a decrease in people's demand for rice. According to a study by the Asia-Pacific Food and Fertilizer Technology Center, the amount and demand for rice in South Korea decreased by 2 per year from 2016 to 20209% and 20%。
So, these "grain customers" bring grain into South Korea, do the customs really ignore it?In fact, South Korean customs imposes some restrictions on plants, fruits, vegetables, and agricultural and forestry products, prohibiting the import of certain food products, but potatoes and rice can be freely brought into Korea according to information from multiple study abroad**.
The reason behind these "food passengers" bringing goods across borders is the high rise of South Korea's grain ** and the baggage preferential policies of airlines. Despite this, the threat to flight safety posed by excess hand luggage cannot be ignored. For airlines and customs, the establishment of stricter baggage weight restrictions and screening measures is essential to ensure flight safety and maintain order in the market.
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