By Kim Bo-eun
Incheon International Airport bustled with travelers and the nation’s expressways were heavily congested, as the summer vacation season began over the weekend.
An estimated 109,439 people left the airport on Sunday, up from last year’s record of 104,467 on July 31.
The Incheon International Airport Corporation estimates 6.84 million travelers will use the airport from July 15 to Aug. 20, up 3.4 percent from last summer.
This means 184,834 are using the airport daily during the period, exceeding the number of travelers in the winter as well as during the traditional holidays of Chuseok and Lunar New Year.
Summer vacationers are concentrated during this period, as workers with families arrange their vacations in time for their children’s summer break.
During this period, Aug. 13 is estimated to have the greatest number of travelers at 204,500, due to the Liberation Day holiday falling on Aug. 15.
The airport corporation has temporarily increased the number of staff on duty, expanded the airport’s parking lot and started offering domestic airlines’ counter check-in services beginning at 5:40 a.m., half an hour before the usual 6:10 a.m.
It advises travelers to use public transportation and automated check-in services to reduce congestion.
Meanwhile, the nation’s expressways suffered congestion as an estimated 4.19 million vehicles traveled across the country, according to the Korea Expressway Corporation.
The figure is up 7.5 percent from the daily average of 3.9 million vehicles over the past four weeks.
A large amount of traffic moved toward the east coast, presumably for vacations at the beach.
An estimated 600,000 to 700,000 spent Sunday at 93 beaches along the east coast, after 970,000 visited the beaches on Saturday.
Data from the expressway corporation showed an estimated 270,000 vehicles left Seoul and surrounding cities for the provincial areas, Sunday.
On the same day, an estimated 290,000 vehicles entered Seoul and surrounding cities from the provinces.