South Korea’s air traffic rose 16 percent in 2022 from a year earlier on unleashed pent-up demand for travel amid eased COVID-19 virus curbs, the Transport Ministry said.

Airlines, domestic and foreign, made a total of 539,788 flights over South Korea last year, up from 465,469 flights a year ago, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.

The ministry said the 2022 number of flights still stood at 65 percent of the pre-pandemic levels.

Air traffic in the country had gradually increased in recent years from around 739,000 in 2016 to 842,000 in 2019 before plunging to around 421,000 in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Late last year, travel demand began to recover, helped by eased travel restrictions in some countries. (Yonhap)