Incheon airport hits quarterly record high in number of int’l travelers

Incheon International Airport, the country’s largest international air transport hub, saw more than 18.6m international passengers in the first quarter of this year, the highest quarterly figure since the airport began operations in 2001, the airport’s operator said Wednesday. The figure is a 7.8% increase from 17.2m in the same period last year, the Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) announced at a press briefing at the airport. Notably, the increase is driven by China's temporary visa exemption for Korean nationals introduced in November last year. As a result, travelers between the two countries showed the greatest gains among international routes at 24.1% this quarter compared to the same period last year and was 14.3% of the total international travelers, according to the IIAC. Flights between Korea and neighboring Japan and Northeastern Asian countries also reflected growing travel demands, showing 10.4% and 16.1% growth in passenger volumes during the same period, respectively. While full-scale carriers saw an overall increase in travelers with an 11.3% jump compared to the first quarter last year, the figure for budget carriers was relatively lower at 2.6%.<br/>