Last month, the number of international air passengers to and from South Korea flew to 4.34 million last month. “International airline passengers increased greatly in July due to an increase in the number of South Koreans going overseas for vacation, as well as an expansion of international services by low-cost carriers,” the ministry said in a press release.
The ministry also attributed the rise to an increase in the number of people coming to the country, especially from Japan and China.
According to the ministry's data, passengers to and from Japan rose 16.9 percent on year partly due to an increase in the number of flights by low-cost carriers with the number of visitors to and from China also rising 12.6 percent with renewed popularity of K-pop music (in China)
The number of passengers on flights to and from Southeast Asian countries also rose 9.8 percent to 1.34 million from a year earlier but the number of people to and from the United States dropped 1.6 percent to 375,647.
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines accounted for 66.5 percent of all international passengers to and from South Korea. Partly due to a large number of people visiting the 2012 World Expo held in the city of Yeosu, the number of people on domestic flights also rose 6 percent to 1.84 million. After attracting more than 8 million domestic and international visitors since its start on May 12, the Yeosu Expo, located about 455 kilometers southwest of Seoul, closed on May 12.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com