International passenger traffic at Incheon Airport on the rise

[Photo by Yonhap]

Incheon International Airport reported a significant 50 percent increase in international passenger traffic in the first quarter of 2024 compared to a year ago.

Incheon International Airport Corporation said on Friday that the number of international passengers totaled 17,147,016, up from 11,432,431 recorded in 2023.

The first-quarter figure is very close to the 17,777,255 passengers recorded during the first quarter of 2019 pre-Covid-19. The airport experienced its busiest day since the onset of Covid-19 on February 25th, 2024, when it served a record 213,351 passengers.

By region, Southeast Asia had the most passengers with 5,634,465, or 32.9 percent of total traffic, followed by Japan with 4,360,011 (25.4 percent), China with 2,139,186 (12.5 percent), Northeast Asia with 1,516,898 (8.8 percent), and the Americas with 1,423,188 (8.3 percent).

The number of international flights also increased, with 99,006 flights in the first quarter of 2024, up 47.1 percent from 67,323 flights a year ago and slightly above the 98,105 flights in the first quarter of 2019.