Pandemic cuts Korea's air traffic 59% and duty-free sales 38% in 2020

[Photo by Yonhap]

The Covid-19 pandemic has reduced passenger traffic at South Korea’s 15 air gateways by nearly 60 percent and duty-free store revenues by 40 percent last year.

According to the Korean Statistical Information Service under the Statistics Korea on Monday, the number of passengers using 15 airports in Korea was tallied at 65,027,063 last year, down 58.8 percent or 92,646,381 from a year earlier.

It was the first fall in 12 years since the airport users declined by 1.7 percent to 69,952,693 in the aftermath of global financial crisis in 2008. Air passengers since then extended gains for 11 consecutive years to pass the milestone of 100 million in 2014.

Air traffic sank to 2 million in March and stayed under 5 million throughout the year. Amidst the winter outbreak, the number fell to 3.68 million.

Jeju International Airport was the busiest with 21.05 million passengers last year, followed by Gimpo airport with 17.45 million. Incheon International Airport, the country’s main international gateway, however, was visited by a mere 12.05 million, equivalent to one sixth of the visitors a year ago.

[Photo by Kim Jae-hoon]

Duty-free shops suffered due to idled air travel.

According to the Korea Duty Free Shops Association on Monday, combined sales of Korean duty-free shops last year reached 15.51 trillion won ($13.88 billion), losing 37.7 percent from the previous year. Foreigners contributed 94 percent to the revenue, rising from 83 percent a year ago.

The explosive expansion in the duty-free industry came to a stop due to the pandemic.

Combined sales grew from 3.85 trillion won in 2009 to above 10 trillion won in 2016 and 20 trillion won in 2019. Monthly revenue totaled 1.18 trillion won in December, down 16.6 percent from November. Visitors to duty-free shops shriveled to 10.67 million, a mere 22 percent of the number in 2019.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]