US and Japan travel more than before COVID... What's happening to the empty 'I Noseon' route?

Relative Underperformance Compared to Routes to Miju, Japan, and the Middle East
Incheon Airport Recovery Rate Relatively High in Asia

The number of passengers using the Americas, Japan, and Middle East routes through Incheon Airport has surpassed pre-COVID-19 levels. However, demand for China routes continues to lag relatively.

According to Incheon International Airport Corporation on the 3rd, the number of passengers using the Americas, Japan, and Middle East routes at Incheon Airport from January to November this year was 5.16 million, 12.1 million, and 960,000 respectively. These figures correspond to 101%, 109%, and 108% of the passenger numbers during the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking at the recovery rates by other routes, Southeast Asia was at 86% (16.54 million), other regions such as Africa and Southwest Asia at 84% (350,000), Oceania at 81% (2.24 million), Europe at 67% (3.95 million), and Northeast Asia at 63% (4.27 million).

However, the recovery of the China route is slow. During the same period, the number of passengers on China routes at Incheon Airport was 4.62 million, which is only 37% of the 2019 level.

Passenger numbers on routes to the Americas, Japan, and the Middle East have been confirmed to have surpassed pre-COVID-19 levels, while demand for routes to China continues to remain relatively sluggish.
[Image source=Pixabay]

According to a report titled “Causes and Implications of Delayed Recovery of Chinese Tourists” released by Hyundai Research Institute on the 26th of last month, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea in September this year was 264,000, significantly lower than the monthly average of 416,000 from 2017 to 2019. Compared to September 2019, before COVID-19, it was only 48.8%.

The institute cited the sluggish economy in China as the main reason for the delayed recovery of Chinese tourists. Due to the delayed economic recovery in China, the perceived economic situation worsened significantly, resulting in a decrease in overseas travel demand itself.

The proportion of Chinese travelers departing to pure overseas countries excluding the Greater China region shrank from 61.3% in Q3 2019 to 40.9% in Q3 2023. Meanwhile, domestic passenger transport by rail increased by 95.8% year-on-year, suggesting that the revenge travel demand of Chinese people may have concentrated domestically rather than overseas. Additionally, changes in characteristics such as an increase in preference for individual travel among Chinese tourists and a younger age group were also pointed out as reasons.

Incheon Airport [Image source=Yonhap News]

An official from Incheon International Airport Corporation stated, “Following the resumption of group tours from China to Korea, it is expected that passenger demand will fully recover within 2024, depending on the speed of normalization of inbound and outbound passenger sentiment on China routes.”

Meanwhile, compared to major airports worldwide, Incheon Airport’s passenger recovery rate is lower than airports in Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East, but it is high among Asian airports.

The number of international passengers at Incheon Airport in November was provisionally counted at 5,355,387. This corresponds to 91% of the average monthly passenger number in 2019 (5,881,504). Looking at cumulative figures, the total number of passengers from January to November this year reached 50,507,311, recovering to 78% of the pre-pandemic level.

Although this is sluggish compared to Dubai (UAE) at 104%, London (UK) at 97%, and Los Angeles (USA) at 81%, it is a rapid recovery compared to most airports in the Asian region. The passenger recovery rates by Asian airports from January to September were Taipei (Taiwan) 68%, Bangkok (Thailand) 66%, Narita (Japan) 57.2%, Hong Kong 48%, and Beijing (China) 26%, among others.

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