Seoul, Jan 12 (IANS): South Korea's air passenger traffic jumped sharply from a year earlier in 2024, nearly reaching the pre-pandemic level on increased overseas travel, data showed on Sunday.

The number of airline passengers at South Korean airports came to more than 120 million, up 19.5 per cent from about 100.5 million tallied in 2023, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The number represents 97.3 per cent of the record 123.36 million posted in 2019. The number had dipped to 29.5 per cent of the record figure in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, before recovering to 81.5 per cent of the 2019 tally in 2023.

The sharp increase last year was largely attributed to a rise in the number of international passengers to and from South Korea, which jumped 30.2 per cent on-year to some 88.9 million, while domestic passengers gained 3.3 per cent to 31.13 million over the cited period, the data showed.

By destination, passengers to and from Japan spiked 29.7 per cent on-year to over 25 million, apparently helped by the weak Japanese currency.

Air passengers to and from China more than doubled to 13.77 million from 6.84 million in 2023, partly helped by Beijing's surprise announcement in November to waive visa requirements for visitors from South Korea, allowing South Korean visitors to stay in China for up to 15 days without a visa.

Air passenger traffic to and from other Asian countries also jumped 22.7 percent on-year to 34.98 million, with passengers to and from the United States adding 16.1 percent to 6.51 million, according to the data.

By airport, passengers at Incheon International Airport, Seoul's main gateway, surged 26.8 per cent on-year to over 70 million last year, while those using the airport in the southern resort island of Jeju more than doubled to 2.43 million.