South Korea’s annual air traffic surpassed 1 million flights for the first time last year, government data showed. The total number of flights reached 1,013,930 in 2025, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The country averaged 2,778 flights per day, up 6.8 percent from a year earlier. The annual figure exceeded the previous high of 842,041 recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The growth was driven by a rebound in international travel. International flights increased 9.4 percent on-year to 2,160 per day, with routes to Southeast Asia and southern China accounting for more than half of the total. Transit flights through Korean airspace jumped 21 percent, underscoring the country’s expanding role as a regional aviation hub. Domestic traffic, however, slipped 1.6 percent to 617 flights per day as more Koreans traveled abroad, officials said.


don@heraldcorp.com