Passengers using Cheongju International Airport in the first half of this year surpassed 2.55 million. In particular, international passengers increased by more than 40% from last year, driving the overall growth.
Chungcheongbuk-do said on Jul. 9 that an analysis of Korea Airports Corporation (KAC) aviation statistics found the total number of passengers at Cheongju International Airport from January to June this year was 2,551,261. That is up 23.4% from the same period last year.
Domestic passengers totaled 1,420,517, up 10.7% from last year. International passengers reached 1,130,744, a 44.2% increase from 783,911 in the same period last year.
Cheongju Airport ranked fourth in passenger numbers among major regional airports. A Chungcheongbuk-do official said, "The international passenger growth rate has remained No. 1 nationwide every month," and saw the possibility of achieving the first-ever 5 million annual passengers this year.
However, in June, passenger traffic declined as oil prices surged due to the U.S.-Iran war, leading to a slight decrease in users at Cheongju Airport.
Kim Min-jeong, head of balanced development at Chungcheongbuk-do, said, "Fuel surcharges have recently been trending down again," adding, "With the peak summer vacation season and the Chuseok holiday in September back to back, we expect travel demand to rebound in the second half."