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Air traffic in S. Korea’s airspace jumps 45 pct last year

January 19, 2024

Air traffic in South Korea’s territorial airspace jumped 45 percent in 2023 from a year earlier on unleashed pent-up demand for travel following years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the transport ministry said Friday.

The number of airplanes that flew over the Korean airspace reached 780,635 last year, up from 539,788 a year ago, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.

“The annual figure includes airplanes that used airports in Korea and planes that just flew over the Korean airspace for their destinations in other countries. Chartered jets, owned by companies or individuals, are also included,” a ministry official said.

But last year’s air traffic over Korea’s airspace has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when the corresponding figure was 842,041 planes, the statement said.

Given the rapid pace of recovery since August last year, air traffic over the national airspace is on track to exceed 2019 levels, the official said.

This photo taken on Jan. 16, 2024, shows outbound tourists at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, just west of Seoul. (Yonhap)
This photo taken on Jan. 16, 2024, shows outbound tourists at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, just west of Seoul. (Yonhap)