Nearly 1 million to travel by air during Chuseok despite gov't advisory

Nearly 1 million people are expected to travel by air during the Chuseok fall harvest holiday despite the government's advisory asking people to remain at home to help contain the spread of COVID-19, transportation authorities said Monday. The Korea Airports Corp. estimated that some 963,000 people will use domestic airports, excluding Incheon International Airport, during this year's extended Chuseok holiday, which starts Wednesday and ends Sunday. The figure represents a 25% drop from last year's tally of 1.29m. But the projection is by no means considered low and comes as a concern, as state health authorities remain in a hard battle against a new wave of local transmissions that broke out in mid-August. The projected drop in the rate of airport usage is also smaller than March and April figures, when the country went through its first wave of mass outbreaks centered around Daegu. During the two months, the rate of air travel plummeted more than 50% on-year to 285,400 and 251,700, respectively.<br/>