South Korea’s international air passenger traffic grew more than 10 percent in July from a year earlier, thanks to increased flights and routes, the government said Sunday.

The number of international air passengers to and from South Korea stood at 5.13 million last month, up 10.6 percent from the previous year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The number of passengers to and from China spiked 23.2 percent on-year in July, following the expansion of flights and routes servicing the Asian neighbor. Passengers to and from Europe also increased 10.4 percent on-year. Passenger traffic with Japan, on the other hand, dropped 4.1 percent on-year amid strained bilateral relations, posting an annualized drop for the 17th consecutive month, according to the ministry.

The ministry tally showed that 61.8 percent of international passengers took flights operated by South Korea’s flag carriers, with the combined market share of the five low-cost carriers coming to 11.1 percent. (Yonhap)