Incheon International Airport, the main aviation gateway of South Korea's capital Seoul, ranked first globally in international passenger traffic in the first half of the year, serving more than 38 million passengers, its operator said Thursday.
This marks the first time Incheon has achieved the top spot in this metric since it began serving international passengers in 2001, according to Incheon International Airport Corp. The South Korean airport surpassed Dubai International Airport—one of the world's busiest transit hubs—in passenger numbers during the January-June period.
Specifically, Incheon handled 38.11 million international passengers in the six-month period, compared with 38.03 million at Dubai, data from the corporation showed. Singapore's Changi International Airport came third with 33.1 million.
Incheon's international passenger traffic rose 24.7% year-on-year, driven by a strong rebound in international travel demand after the COVID-19 pandemic. Transit passengers also surged, jumping 70.7% from a year earlier.
Incheon International Airport Corp. forecasts international passenger numbers will keep growing in the second half, potentially reaching 84 million for all of 2026, surpassing the pre-pandemic level of 71.2 million in 2019.
Located on Yeongjong Island west of Seoul, Incheon has long been rated among the world's best airports for services and amenities. The new achievement reflects the rapid recovery of South Korea's aviation industry as well as the airport's status as a regional transit hub.
