SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea’s international airline traffic grew 5 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, a government tally showed Friday.
In the three months ended March 31, the number of international flights to and from the country came to 87,491, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Overall airline traffic rose 4.4 percent on-year to 145,527 as domestic flights went up 3 percent to 48,609. The number of international flights passing through the country’s airspace grew 6.4 percent to 9,427.
The ministry’s figures said the number of international air passengers to and from South Korea, which boosts the overall volume of airline traffic, jumped 7 percent on-year to 4.31 million in February alone. The number is likely to continue to increase in the second quarter, the ministry said.
“Air traffic in the second quarter will likely grow on a rise in the number of people going overseas for vacation and also on growing services by low-cost carriers,” it said.