16,000 People Used 'Non-Stop International Tourist Flights'... Average Duty-Free Purchase per Person 1.48 Million KRW

Tourists are using the duty-free shop at the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport Terminal 1. Photo is unrelated to the article. Source=Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Non-stop international sightseeing flights are driving the aviation and duty-free industries to overcome their crises.

According to the Korea Customs Service on the 14th, non-stop international sightseeing flights began in December last year in consideration of the significant reduction in international passenger flights due to COVID-19.

Since then, over the past six months until last month, the cumulative number of passengers who boarded non-stop international sightseeing flights reached approximately 16,000, and the duty-free products they purchased on board amounted to about 22.8 billion KRW, proving to be a boon for the aviation and duty-free industries in overcoming the crisis during the COVID-19 era.

Non-stop international sightseeing flights are temporarily maintained until the end of this year to overcome the survival crisis of related industries such as the duty-free sector, caused by the aviation industry's triple hardships of plummeting demand, flight suspensions, and revenue declines due to COVID-19.

The flight route consists of departing from a domestic airport, circling the airspace of a neighboring country without landing, and then re-entering the departure airport without landing.

Non-stop international sightseeing flights started on December 2 last year at Incheon Airport under quarantine management and have expanded since last month to include Gimpo, Gimhae, and Daegu Airports.

Over the past six months, 12,527 passengers (116 flights) used non-stop international sightseeing flights from Incheon Airport. Recently started operations at Gimpo Airport saw 2,075 passengers (21 flights), Gimhae had 1,212 passengers (13 flights), and Daegu had 169 passengers (2 flights).

The average load factor is 73.5%, which is significantly higher compared to general international flights (major airlines at 21.3%, low-cost carriers at 43.2%). By airline size, major airlines such as Korean Air and Asiana Airlines recorded 24 flights (15.8%), while five low-cost carriers accounted for 128 flights (84.2%).

Passengers on non-stop international sightseeing flights can purchase duty-free goods at downtown duty-free shops (including online), departure duty-free shops, arrival duty-free shops, and onboard, just like regular overseas travelers, and the same duty-free allowances apply upon arrival.

Until the end of last month, the average duty-free purchase per passenger on non-stop international sightseeing flights was about 1.42 million KRW. By purchase location, downtown duty-free shops accounted for 20.36 billion KRW (89.4%), departure duty-free shops 1.92 billion KRW (8.4%), onboard duty-free goods 480 million KRW (2%), and arrival duty-free shops 20 million KRW (0.08%).

By product category, cosmetics accounted for 6.1 billion KRW (26.7%), bags 4 billion KRW (17.5%), and perfumes 2.5 billion KRW (10.9%).

The Korea Customs Service supported the aviation and duty-free industries from behind by facilitating customs clearance of duty-free goods purchased by passengers on non-stop international sightseeing flights. By introducing a ‘Duty-Free Purchase Confirmation Certificate,’ they quickly separated duty-free and taxable items before inspection, allowing duty-free items to pass immediately and enabling prompt tax calculation for taxable items.

Additionally, improvements were made so that taxability of purchase points and discount benefits, which vary by each duty-free shop, can be indicated on purchase receipts, enabling swift tax clearance.

Conversely, the Korea Customs Service is strengthening inspections on frequent flyers and those who excessively import duty-free goods to prevent illegal cases exploiting non-stop international sightseeing flights.

A Korea Customs Service official stated, “Through collaboration with related agencies, we will continue to facilitate swift customs clearance for non-stop international sightseeing flights in the second half of the year and actively support the aviation and duty-free industries in overcoming their crises.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.