JEJU-DO < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korea's air passenger traffic rose sharply from a year earlier in October, fueled by the increased number of people taking both domestic and international flights, the government said Wednesday.

In September, the country's overall air passenger traffic rose by 11.9 percent on-year to 8.35 million, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The number of international air passengers to and from South Korea moved up 11 percent on-year to 5.61 million last month, an increase from 4.93 million tallied for the previous month.

The two straight months of growth reflects the receding of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) scare that seriously hurt international air travel during the summer months.

Air traffic to Japan, Oceania and Europe all rose by double digits, while traffic to and from China increased by 9.3 percent on-year.

Domestic passenger traffic, which has recovered relatively quickly from the MERS fallout, continued to grow at a fast pace, rising 13.7 percent on-year to a new high of 2.72 million for September.

The ministry said the rise is mainly due to more people traveling to the resort island of Jeju, off South Korea's southern coast.

Of all international passengers flying to and from South Korea, 63.8 percent, or 3.57 million, used flights operated by South Korean carriers.

Numbers for the country's two full-service airlines -- Korean Air and Asiana Airlines -- rose 7.8 percent compared with the year before to 2.72 million, while figures for the five budget carriers surged 59 percent to 849,286 in the one-month period.

The latest data, meanwhile, showed air cargo increasing 3.6 percent on-year to 338,627 tons, with international cargo propping up growth.

The ministry said international cargo reached 312,705 tons, up 4 percent on-year, with numbers rising for China, Japan and Southeast Asia. Air cargo to the Americas contracted.

Domestic cargo was also down 0.9 percent on-year to 25,922 tons.

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