July travel at nearly 84 percent of pre-Covid levels

Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, is packed with travelers in this file photo taken Aug. 6, 2023.

The number of air passengers in July 2023 recovered to nearly 84 percent of the level before the Covid-19 pandemic, government data showed on Tuesday.

A total of 8.98 million people boarded international and domestic flights last month, up 79 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The number is for 83.8 percent of the 10.7 million tallied in July 2019, before the pandemic broke out.

The number of international flight passengers more than tripled to 6.38 million in July from a year ago, but the number of domestic flight passengers dropped about 18 percent on year to 2.59 million as more people traveled abroad.

According to aviation industry officials, the flight passenger tally is expected to recover to about 85 percent of the pre-pandemic level in August thanks to the peak travel season.

The data also showed that the number of passengers boarding flights connecting South Korea and China is on an upward trend, with the recovery rate increasing to 25.7 percent of the pre-pandemic level in the January-July period from 12.9 percent in the January-April period.

In July, 818,000 passengers used South Korea-China air routes, accounting for 51.5 percent of the corresponding number for 2019.

In the same month last year, only 30,000 used the routes.

Demand for routes connecting South Korea and China is expected to further increase as China lifted a ban on group tours to South Korea last week.

"When Youkes return at full-scale and with the creation of travel products to Korea, the total number of flight passengers will be able to surpass the pre-pandemic level of 2019," an industry official said. Youkes refers to Chinese tourists.

The number of Chinese tourists is expected to recover as China lifted restrictions on group tours to Korea on Thursday. The United States, Australia and Japan were among the other countries to which China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism allowed Chinese tourists to travel in groups.

BY JIN MIN-JI, YONHAP [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]