Cheongju International Airport saw its passenger count surpass 2.55 million in the first half of the year, driven by a surge in international travelers.
A total of 2,551,261 passengers used Cheongju International Airport from January through June, up 23.4% from the same period last year, according to aviation statistics released by Korea Airports Corporation on July 9.
Domestic passengers reached 1,420,517, an increase of 10.7% from a year earlier. International passengers surged 44.2% to 1,130,744, up from 783,911 in the same period last year, driving the airport's steep overall growth.
The airport ranked fourth nationwide in passenger volume among major regional airports. It has firmly held the No. 1 spot nationwide in international passenger growth every month, raising the likelihood of reaching 5 million annual passengers for the first time this year.
"Fuel surcharges are coming down again, and with the peak summer vacation season followed by the Chuseok holiday in September, travel demand that had temporarily slowed is expected to rebound sharply in the second half," said Kim Min-jung, director of the Balanced Development Division at North Chungcheong Province.
