Transit passenger at Incheon tops 2 million

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- The number of international passengers using South
Korea's Incheon International Airport as a transit stop reached 2 million last
year for the first time since the airport opened nearly eight years ago, airport
officials said Monday.

The number of transit passengers came to over 2.14 million in 2008, up 14.5
percent from a year before, they said.
A transit passenger is one who temporarily stays at the airport for his or her
flight en route to their next stop. As with an increase in the total number of
passengers using the airport, an increase in the number of transit passengers
means increased revenue for the airport, whose income largely relies on aircraft
landing fees.
Meanwhile, the number of passengers using the airport decreased 5.8 percent from
some 29.3 million in 2007 to about 27.6 million last year, the officials said,
blaming it on the global economic downturn.
"I believe the main reason for the increase in the number of transit passengers
is because people now prefer low cost airlines amid the global economic slump,"
an official said, noting low cost carriers often make transit stops to take more
passengers.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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