Korea's air passenger traffic up 6.4% in Q1

South Korea's air passenger traffic reached a record high in the first quarter of the year, helped by the rising number of Chinese tourists and increasing budget airliner operations, government data showed Tuesday.

The number of air passengers came to 30.5 million in the January-March period, up 6.4 percent on-year, marking a new quarterly record, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Low-cost carriers accounted for 32 percent of the figure in the first three months of the year, a sharp rise from the 13 percent tallied in 2015.

International air passenger traffic rose 7 percent on-year to reach 23 million in the first quarter, with domestic travelers rising 4.4 percent over the cited period to reach 7.5 million, according to the ministry.

Passenger traffic on Chinese routes came to 4.14 million in the period, up 14 percent on-year. The figure still falls behind 2016, before South Korea was embroiled in diplomatic tensions with Beijing that resulted in a sharp decrease in the number of tourists from China.

Japanese routes accounted for 5.85 million in passenger traffic, with those to and from Southeast Asian countries taking up 9.4 million, the data also showed.

The increasing demand by foreigners for routes connecting to the country's southern resort island of Jeju resulted in the increase in domestic passengers, the ministry said.

Air cargo traffic shed 3.4 percent on-year to 1 million tons in the first quarter due to lower shipments to Japan, China and European countries amid the slowing global economy. (Yonhap)