By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
The number of elementary schoolchildren going overseas without guardians surpassed the 4,500 mark during the first half of this year _ a record high.
More children are expected to depart from the country as the summer vacation has already started.
According to Korean Air and Asiana Airlines Wednesday, 4,503 children between the ages of five and 12 used the carriers' ``Unaccompanied Minor'' services when departing from Incheon International Airport between January and June this year.
The figure was a 23.8 percent increase from 3,637 during the same period last year.
Those airlines provided the service to 1,788 children in January, 835 in February and 940 in June, indicating elementary school students went overseas mainly during vacation.
Airline officials say most unaccompanied children go overseas to study English for either a short-term or long-term stay and relatives or other guardians living in foreign nations pick them up at the airport.
``The main destinations elementary schoolchildren head for are the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and China. We expect more students to go overseas from late this month, along with summer vacation at schools,'' a Korean Air official said.
From July 1 through 11, 1,125 children already enjoyed the two carriers' unaccompanied minor service _ it is more than half of last July's total number of 2,189.
With the service, airline staff help children during the whole flight from checking-in at the airport and undergoing the immigration process to meeting a guardian at the airport of arrival.
As not every child uses the service, the actual number of elementary school students who left the country might be larger than 4,503 when including those who did not use the service, those who went overseas on foreign carriers' flights, and those who were accompanied by their parents.
According to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, 8,148 elementary schoolchildren left the country for overseas study from March 2005 to February 2006, a 29.8 percent rise from the same period a year before.
Following an increase in the number of unaccompanied minors, airlines are upgrading the services.
Korean Air offers ``Flying Mom'' service, in which a flight attendant takes full care of a child passenger, checks the child's meal intake, sleeping, resting and health during the flight, and writes a letter about the child's conditions to guardians who pick up the child at the airport upon arrival.
With the service, the carrier received top honor at the ``Mercury Awards'' by the International Travel Catering Association in March.