SOUTH KOREA. Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) has set new traffic records in 2025, serving 74,071,475 passengers and operating 425,760 flights, up +4.1% and +3% year-on-year, respectively.
In its latest release (25 January), the airport attributed the strong performance to rising travel demand on routes to China and Japan.
2025 passenger traffic surpassed the previous high set in 2019, when the airport recorded 71,169,722 travellers.
International travellers accounted for 73,554,772 passengers in 2025, with Southeast Asia emerging as the largest market (19,786,272 passengers, 26.7% of the total), followed by Japan (18,578,176; 25.1%), China (12,356,734; 16.7%), Northeast Asia (7,026,111; 9.5%) and the Americas (6,851,615; 9.3%).
IIAC cited several key drivers behind 2025 passenger traffic, including extended holiday periods covering both Lunar New Year and Chuseok, the introduction of China’s temporary visa exemption policy, and increased demand on China and Japan routes amid high exchange rates.
Rising passenger numbers on Northeast Asia routes, such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, further supported 2025 traffic, reflecting growing interest in Korean culture and tourism.
Despite year-on-year increases across most international routes, passenger traffic to Southeast Asia declined -5.9% as travel demand softened amid local security concerns.
Southeast Asia’s share of international traffic also fell from 29.9% in 2019 and 29.6% in 2024 to 26.7% in 2025, a decline of 2.9 percentage points.
Domestic travel added to the airport’s overall performance, reaching 516,703 in 2025.
The record number of flights in 2025 was driven by a +3.3% year-on-year increase in operations, as the airport expanded services to meet rising passenger demand.
The number of transfer passengers fell -2.3% compared to 2024, totalling 8,046,572, while reaching 95.9% of 2019 levels.
Incheon Airport’s drop in transfer passengers was linked to the expansion of direct flights from China and Southeast Asia to the Americas and Europe, as well as Chinese airlines’ increased use of Russian airspace amid US-China tensions.
Building on continued momentum in passenger demand, IIAC expects 2026 traffic to reach approximately 75.54-78.55 million, up +2-6% year-on-year.
Incheon International Airport Corporation CEO Lee Hag-jae said, “Despite last year’s record air transportation performance, we were able to maintain safe and convenient airport operations thanks to the hard work of approximately 94,000 airport employees.
“As many citizens are expected to use Incheon Airport this year as well, we will prioritise safety and accelerate operational innovations such as AI transformation to provide even safer and more convenient airport services to the public.” ✈
