Passengers on Korea-China routes only 13% of pre-pandemic level in Q1

Duty free shops at Incheon International Airport on May 21 [NEWS1]

The number of passengers on Korea-China routes in the first quarter remained at only 13 percent of the level in 2019, government data showed, partly due to the ban on Chinese group tours and a decrease in demand for travel between the two countries.

The number of air passengers on routes between Korea and China came to 738,170 in the January-April period, according to data by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

This figure is 12.9 percent of the passenger count during the same period in 2019, which stood at 5,651,104.

In contrast, routes to other Asian countries are experiencing more promising recoveries, with some even surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Passenger numbers on Korea-Japan routes from January to April this year reached 5,486,542, amounting to 71.8 percent of the same period in 2019.

Similarly, Vietnam recorded 82.2 percent of its 2019 figures, Thailand reached 82.9 percent, and the Philippines achieved 71.4 percent.

Mongolia and Singapore saw passenger numbers at 136.4 percent and 138 percent respectively, exceeding their pre-Covid figures.

The lackluster recovery of Chinese routes can be attributed to a decline in Chinese travelers.

Currently, Korea is excluded from China's list of 60 approved group tour destinations.

The domestic market in Korea also shows a lack of enthusiasm for traveling to China.

A survey conducted on some 3,000 people by ConsumerInsight, a consumer research company, showed the level of interest in China as a travel destination in the first quarter of this year was only one-third of that in 2019.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]