Korea's air passenger traffic soars to new monthly high in Aug.

South Korea's air passenger traffic surged to a record monthly high in August with international passengers to and from the country also reaching a new all-time high, the government said Tuesday.

Overall air passenger traffic came to 9.86 million in August, up 20.1 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The increase was largely attributed to a surge in international passengers to and from South Korea, which spiked 26.5 percent on-year to about 6.97 million.

Domestic air passenger traffic gained 6.9 percent to some 2.88 million, according to the ministry.

International passengers between South Korea and China jumped 44.7 percent to over 2 million, while those between the country and Southeast Asian countries surged 27 percent to a little over 2.24 million.

"Air passenger traffic is expected to continue growing due partly to the strengthening of the local currency and increased flight services by low cost carriers," the ministry said in a press release.

In August, international passengers using flights operated by Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Co., the two largest flag carriers here, gained 7.8 percent on-year to some 3 million, while those using flights operated by South Korean budget carriers jumped 65.6 percent to over 1.4 million.

International air cargo traffic rose 7.7 percent on-year to some 320,000 tons in August. (Yonhap)