How Seoul became the busiest international airport

 

How Seoul became the busiest international airport

Olga Pak / Getty Images

As a result of turmoil in the Middle East, Dubai’s 12-year reign as the top destination for international travelers is over. Seoul’s Incheon Airport has become the world’s busiest hub for international travel over the first six months of this year, according to data from Airports Council International (ACI).

Since the Iran war started in February, the shift away from the city where Tom Cruise climbed the Burj Khalifa has been drastic:

• The number of international passengers going through Dubai fell from 7.4 million in February to 2.5 million in March (but rose to 4.7 million in June).
• Meanwhile, Incheon in Seoul served 38.4 million international travelers in the first half of the year.

Lost connection: Transfer traffic in the Middle East has fallen by half since the war began, according to the New York Times. Much of that traffic is going through Asia instead: From January to June, Incheon saw an 18% rise in flyers making a connecting flight and a 63% increase in passengers connecting to Europe, compared to a year earlier.

Plan ahead: The International Air Transport Association reported that bookings are down in the Middle East for June through September. But they’re up 33% from a year ago in the Asia-Pacific region for the same time period.