Air Passengers between Korea and China Increase Sharply

The number of air passengers between Korea and China are increasing dramatically.

According to report on the analysis of transportation amount of international flight(including foreign airlines) released on the 5th by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, total passengers of Korea-China airlines last year amount to 3,949,469, which is 4.7 times of 848,814 in 1995.

The number of air passengers between Korea and China(2,995,000) outnumbered that between Korea and the U.S.A(2,601,000) in 2001, and it widened the difference from Korea-U.S.(2,542,000) over one million.

The growth rate of Korea-China air passengers fell back after the foreign currency crisis in 1997, however, it recovered after 1999 and now it increased more than 0.5 million annually.

In addition, air cargo between Korea and China also has increased steadily. It increased more than five times in seven years, from 34,381 ton in 1995 to 172,609 ton last year.

As the demand for airline increased, the flight also increased 4.5 times in seven years, from 6,377 in 1995 to 28,981 last year.

Jae-Seong Hwang jsonhng@donga.com