Nearly 50 million flight passengers in first half of 2016

Flight passengers in Korea hit an all-time high in the first half of 2016, totaling nearly 50 million, according to Transport Ministry data on Wednesday.

Korea saw 49.8 million people traveling by air in the first half of the year, up 14.5 percent from last year and marking a record high. About 35 million of those passengers flew internationally.

The number was up 44.5 percent on-year for the month of June thanks to the travel industry’s recovery from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome shock last year.

The Transport Ministry said that increased flights to and from China, Japan, and Southeast Asia powered the growth, as well as increased travel abroad due to the strong won and rising inbound tourism from Asian countries.

Full-service carriers Korean Air and Asiana Airlines saw 30 percent on-year growth in June while low-cost carriers nearly doubled their passengers from last year with 96.4 percent growth.

While demand for air travel is expended to continue growing in the second half of 2016, the terrorist attack in Nice, France and the attempted military coup in Turkey may lead to some downward effects, the ministry said.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)