Number of international flight passengers up almost 10% despite hikes in oil prices  

The number of international flight passengers using Korean airports rose around 10 percent from January through August compared to the previous year, despite a sharp rise in oil prices, data showed on Saturday.

A total of 68.44 million people took international flights in the first eight months of the year, up 9.8 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the airport portal information system of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Experts said that the yen’s weakness and China’s visa-free program for Korean nationals helped boost demand for flights to and from Japan and China. The number of travelers using Incheon International Airport, Korea’s main gateway, for transit also increased following the Middle East conflict.

By destination, the number of travelers on flights linking Korea and Japan rose 20.3 percent on year to 21.3 million over the cited period, and the number of passengers on China flight routes increased 23 percent to 13.6 million.

Meanwhile, the number of travelers on flights to and from Southeast Asian nations markedly declined, the data showed.

The number of passengers on flights linking Korea and Vietnam fell 5.1 percent on year to 6.63 million, and the number of passengers on Philippine routes declined 13.7 percent to 2.5 million.

“As fuel surcharges rose in line with a spike in oil prices, more travelers chose Japan and China, as flight times to those countries are one to three hours, shorter than those to Southeast Asian nations at four to six hours,” an industry watcher said.

Yonhap