"Only a Brief Spike During Chuseok Holiday"... September Air Passenger Numbers Lowest in 7 Months

Domestic Passengers 2,525,655, Down 13.2% Compared to Previous Month

Ahead of the Chuseok holiday, the spread of COVID-19 is accelerating mainly in Seoul and the metropolitan area. On the 16th, the domestic terminal of Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, was crowded with passengers. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Despite the special demand during the Chuseok holiday, the number of domestic airline passengers last month recorded the lowest level in seven months. This appears to have dampened the recovery sentiment in the aviation industry, which had been showing signs of recovery due to the prolonged spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant and the increase in confirmed cases.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Aviation Information Portal System on the 1st, the provisional tally of domestic airline passengers using domestic flights in September was a total of 2,525,655, a 13.2% decrease compared to the previous month (2,911,906). This is the first time in seven months since February (2,416,477) that the monthly number of domestic passengers has fallen to the 2.5 million range.

The fourth wave of COVID-19, which began during the much-anticipated summer vacation season, seems to have affected the Chuseok season as well. The number of domestic airline passengers has decreased for four consecutive months since peaking in May (3,272,398).

However, during the Chuseok holiday period (September 18?22), the number of domestic passengers totaled 564,718, a 32.2% increase compared to last year's Chuseok holiday (September 30?October 4). During the five-day holiday, Gimpo Airport recorded the highest number of departing passengers at 206,717, followed by Jeju Airport with 186,517.

By airline, during the same period, Jeju Air maintained its position as the number one domestic airline with a total of 487,152 domestic passengers, although the monthly number of passengers decreased to below 500,000. This was followed by Jin Air (424,155), Korean Air (391,436), T'way Air (380,382), and Asiana Airlines (326,276).

The industry explained that the poor passenger performance in August and September, which include the peak vacation season and Chuseok holiday, was due to the continued spread of the Delta variant, with confirmed COVID-19 cases recently exceeding 2,000.

An aviation industry official said, "Considering this situation, the government extended the paid employment retention support period by one month until this month beyond the original plan, but there are concerns that the recovery of international flights is delayed and the domestic passenger sentiment may shrink again."

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