Go to contents

Incheon Airport sees largest number of annual users over 60 million

Incheon Airport sees largest number of annual users over 60 million

Posted December. 22, 2017 08:51,   

Updated December. 22, 2017 09:13

한국어

Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on Thursday that the number of passengers it served this year topped 60 million for the first time. As of Thursday, the number of passengers using the airport stood at about 60.185 million, up 2.415 million from last year’s 57.77 million. The number of passengers is expected to reach about 62 million by the end of this year.

Since its opening in March 2001, Incheon International Airport has seen an average annual growth rate of 6.8 percent after having 14.54 million passengers in its first year. The number of passengers amounted to 30 million in 2008, 40 million in 2013, over 50 million in 2016, and over 60 million this year.

The busiest air route based on number of passengers was Japan with 11.53 million passengers, up 28.4 percent from last year. Air routes to Southeast Asian countries and European countries also saw an increase by 19.3 percent and 15.9 percent, respectively. However, the number of passengers from and to China fell by 22.2 percent from last year to 10.29 million due to the Chinese government’s travel ban affected by the deployment of THAAD in Korea.

“Only seven airports in the world have served more than 60 million passengers this year,” said Jeong Il-young, CEO of Incheon International Airport Corporation. “This is the result of widespread overseas travel and a sharp growth of budget airlines.”



Kum-Chun Hwang kchwang@donga.com