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Korea's flight delay rate rises slightly to 23.6% in first half

Published: 27 Jul. 2025, 19:06

A plane takes off from an airstrip at Incheon International Airport on Feb. 2. [YONHAP]

Nearly one in four flights operated by Korean airlines in the first half of the year experienced delays in their departures or arrivals, data showed Sunday.

The average delay rate for domestic and international flights operated by 10 domestic airlines from January to June stood at 23.6 percent, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Airports Corporation.

Of the 329,736 flights operated in the first half, 77,700 were delayed. A flight is considered delayed when it departs or arrives 15 minutes past its scheduled time.

The delay rate for the first half marks a 1 percentage point increase from the same period last year. The delay rate for international flights gained 3.1 percentage points over the cited period, while that of domestic flights dropped by 1.4 percentage points, the data showed.

The increase in the delay rate was partly attributed to a record number of international flights in the first half of the year, which stood at 264,254, leading to airport congestion, along with frequent turbulence and airspace restrictions on international flight paths.

By airline, Air Seoul reported the highest delay rate of 36.5 percent, suggesting more than one in three flights experienced delays in departures or arrivals.

An Air Seoul representative said some of the delays had occurred due to safety inspections, adding that the airline will strive to minimize customer inconvenience in the second half.

Yonhap