No. of air travelers in Korea falls for 1st time in 12 years

Incheon International Airport's departure lounge is quiet in this Sept. 29, 2020, photo. / Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

The number of travelers who used airports in Korea fell sharply year-on-year for the first time in 12 years due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to data compiled and announced by Statistics Korea, Sunday.

The number of people who used any of the 15 airports across the country stood at 65 million last year, down 58.8 percent from 157.6 million tallied in 2019.

It marked the first time that the number had decreased since 2008 when the country was hit by the global financial crisis. At the time, the number of passengers at Korean airports was 69.9 million, down 1.7 percent from a year earlier.

Since then, the number increased for 11 consecutive years from 2009 to 2019 on the back of economic recovery and a rise in the number of overseas tourists.

But the number fell sharply last year due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic that has been restricting overseas travel.

Korea confirmed its first virus case on Jan. 20 last year.