Incheon Airport Surpasses 800 Million Cumulative Passengers 22 Years After Opening

The number of travelers visiting Incheon International Airport has surpassed 800 million. It took 22 years and 7 months since the airport opened. Although the number of passengers at Incheon Airport sharply declined due to COVID-19, it is showing a clear recovery trend this year.

On the 4th, Incheon International Airport Corporation announced that it held a 'Celebration Event for Achieving 800 Million Cumulative Passengers at Incheon Airport' at the departure hall of Terminal 1. On that day, the corporation presented the 800 millionth passenger departing to Los Angeles, USA, on Asiana Airlines flight OZ 202 with a golden key and round-trip airline tickets as gifts.

At the 'Incheon Airport 800 Million Cumulative Passengers Achievement Ceremony' held on the 4th at the Departure Hall of Terminal 1, Incheon Airport, Lee Hak-jae, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation (right in the photo), presented a golden key as a gift to the 800 millionth passenger and took a commemorative photo.
[Photo by Incheon International Airport Corporation]

Incheon Airport opened in March 2001. It took 4 years and 7 months to surpass 100 million cumulative passengers. At that time, the rapid increase in air travel demand accelerated the growth rate of cumulative passengers.

It then took 4 years and 5 months to reach 200 million, 3 years to reach 300 million, 2 years and 5 months to reach 400 million, 1 year and 11 months to reach 500 million, 1 year and 8 months to reach 600 million, and 1 year and 5 months to reach 700 million.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual passenger count in 2021 (3.2 million) decreased by about 95% compared to 2019 (71.17 million), marking a difficult period. With the sharp drop in air travel demand, it took 4 years and 2 months to increase from 700 million to 800 million cumulative passengers.

The corporation interpreted this achievement of 800 million cumulative passengers as a sign of the airport's operational normalization after overcoming the COVID-19 crisis.

As of August this year, Incheon Airport's passenger performance reached 35,226,212, recovering to 71% of the same period in 2019 (48,181,344). The corporation expects the annual international passenger demand this year to be between 54 million and 57 million, which is 77% to 81% of the 2019 pre-COVID-19 passenger demand.

Lee Hak-jae, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, said, "We will continue to strengthen our future competitiveness based on safe and convenient airport services," adding, "We will become 'the people's Incheon Airport,' leading the competition as a global hub airport."

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