International air passenger traffic rose nearly 10% from a year earlier in the first eight months of this year, even as higher global oil prices raised the cost of flying. A weak yen and China's visa-free entry policy channeled demand toward Japanese and Chinese routes. Southeast Asian routes, with their longer flight times, took the brunt of the fuel surcharge burden and saw passenger numbers fall.
International passengers totaled 68.435 million from January through August, up 9.8% from 62.315 million a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's air portal information system released on the 26th. International flights rose 6.6% to 384,700.
Japan and China drove the increase. Passengers on Japanese routes reached 21.31 million in the January-August period, up 20.3% from a year earlier. Chinese routes carried 13.615 million passengers, a 23.0% increase.
Combined, the two markets added 6.141 million passengers — nearly matching the overall international gain of 6.12 million. Japan and China together accounted for 51.0% of all international passengers.
The weak yen supported demand for Japan, while visa-free entry lifted China. Chinese routes stood out in particular: flights rose 7.9% while passengers jumped 23.0%, a recovery in demand far outpacing the increase in capacity.
Airline industry officials also point to deteriorating relations between China and Japan. With Beijing advising against travel to Japan, more Chinese tourists have visited South Korea instead, adding to traffic on China routes.
Southeast Asia Loses Passengers and Flights
Southeast Asian routes moved in the opposite direction. Vietnam, the third-largest international market after Japan and China, carried 6.626 million passengers in the January-August period, down 5.1% from a year earlier.
Passengers on Philippine routes fell 13.7% to 2.501 million, and Thai routes dropped 13.0% to 2.343 million. Flights also declined — 6.6% for Vietnam, 9.3% for Thailand and 17.5% for the Philippines.
Analysts attribute the decline to fuel surcharges tied to the surge in global oil prices, which weigh more heavily on longer flights. "As fuel surcharges rose with the jump in oil prices, travel demand shifted from Southeast Asia, which takes four to six hours, to Japan and China, which are one to three hours away," an airline industry official said. "Carriers also reallocated capacity toward Japanese and Chinese routes, where load factors and profitability are higher."
Americas and Europe Grow Despite High Fuel Costs, Transfer Traffic Up 20%
Not all long-haul routes declined. Traffic to the Americas and Europe actually increased. Passengers on routes to the Americas rose 8.2% to 4.961 million in the January-August period, while European routes gained 9.3% to 3.478 million.
Steady demand from business travel and overseas study, combined with growing transfer traffic through Incheon International Airport, supported the gains. Since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, some traffic from Southeast Asia and Australia that previously routed through the Middle East to Europe has shifted to connections via Incheon.
Slow recovery in direct U.S.-China routes amid tensions between Washington and Beijing has also driven more traffic from China to the Americas via Incheon.
The data bear out the rise in transfers. International transfer passengers totaled 5.982 million in the January-August period, up 20.1% from 4.98 million a year earlier — more than double the overall growth rate for international passengers.
By region, transfer traffic to Europe grew fastest at 53.0%. Japan rose 42.6%, China 35.8% and the Americas 12.8%. The Americas accounted for the largest share by volume at 2.02 million transfer passengers.
Korean Air Expands Capacity, New China Routes Added
Some carriers benefited from the growth in transfer and inbound traffic. Korean Air posted passenger revenue of 2.8479 trillion won in the second quarter, up 451.4 billion won from a year earlier, even as the effects of the Middle East war took hold. The airline said demand for departures from South Korea softened somewhat on higher fuel prices, but transfer traffic through the Middle East and inbound travel to South Korea increased.
To meet the rising demand, Korean Air added flights on North American routes including Los Angeles, Atlanta and Vancouver. It also expanded capacity on major Japanese routes such as Tokyo and Osaka.
Expansion into China is continuing as well. Eastar Jet and Jeju Air recently announced plans to launch new services to Chinese cities including Xiamen, Hangzhou and Guilin.
