The number of domestic and international air travelers last year exceeded 100 million for the first time in four years. Seen are passengers on Dec. 29, 2023, lining up to check in for a domestic flight at Gimpo International Airport. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Dasom

The number of passengers on domestic and international carriers last year exceeded 100 million for the first time in four years.

Citing aviation statistics, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Jan. 11 said the figure of 100,508,875 was 80% higher than 55,828,355 in 2022.

The 2023 number accounted for 81.5% of 123,366,608 passengers in 2019, the year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, the number of passengers on domestic flights was 32,189,676, 97.6% of 32,980,968 million in 2019, and that of those on international routes 68,319,199, 75.6% of 90,385,640 four years earlier.

Travel to Japan also took off last year, with the number of 19,382,535 equal to 102.8% of the baseline year's figure of 18,863,541. That to the Americas, where transition from the pandemic was relatively swift, rose a modest 1.2% from 5,544,177 million to 5,610,210.

The number of travelers to China reached 6,848,108 last year, up 37.1% from 2019, Europe 4,249,231, up 64.5%, and Oceania 2,630,083, up 75.3%.

The passenger count for Asian routes excluding Japan and China was 28,506,196, recovering to 78.2% of the 2019 level.

dlektha0319@korea.kr