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| A Korean Air Boeing 787-9 is seen in flight. / Courtesy of Korean Air |
By Kim Hyun-bin
As the number of international flight passengers is rapidly rising to pre-pandemic levels, domestic airlines are scrambling to expand international routes and add more airplanes to their fleets.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, Sunday, international flights have recovered to close to 70 percent of their pre-COVID numbers. The number of passengers on international flights stood at over 4.5 million in both January and February, continuing its explosive growth since the second half of last year. The number exceeded 1 million for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19 in June, last year, increasing to 3.08 million in October and then exceeding 4 million in December.
The number of international air passengers is expected to continue surging in the future as the recovery of Chinese routes will pull up the figure.
The ministry agreed with the Chinese government to expand flights between Korea and China to the pre-COVID level on March 3. As a result, the number of flights to China, which was 62 per week as of the end of February, will increase to more than 200 from the end of this month.
"China and Japan routes are the most profitable routes as the load factor exceeds 95 percent," an industry official familiar with the matter said. "Usually, a load factor above 70 percent is considered profitable for the airline."
With the resumption of visa-free travel to Japan in October last year, international air passengers increased significantly.
Airlines are busily expanding their routes to meet the demand of international passengers. Korean Air plans to significantly increase its flights to 622 per week on 78 international routes next month. Asiana Airlines also plans to expand international flights from 312 flights a week on 54 routes this month to 349 flights a week on 55 routes starting next month. Domestic low-cost carriers (LCCs), including Jeju Air, will also focus on resuming and increasing flights to China and Southeast Asia in the first half of this year.
Based on plans by each airline to increase flights, international flights are expected to recover to 80 percent of the pre-COVID level this summer. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts that the number of air passengers will reach 4 billion by 2024, an increase of 3 percent compared to 2019.
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