Jeju International Airport (IATA: CJU, ICAO: RKPC) is the second-largest airport in South Korea, just behind Incheon AirportinIncheon (near Seoul). It is located in the city of Jeju. The airport opened in 1968.
Jeju International Airport serves many mainland destinations in South Korea, as well as international destinations in mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. In 2015, 26,237,562 passengers used the airport. The airport is one endpoint of the world's busiest airline route, Jeju to/from Seoul-Gimpo. In 2019 over 17 million passengers traveled on that route.
Due to the airport operating far beyond its designed passenger capacity, it was announced in 2023 that Jeju's second airport would be constructed in Seongsan-eup, near the southern city of Seogwipo. This US$5.1 billion project has faced significant delays and controversies due to concerns the airport would negatively impact Jeju's groundwater sources, as well as protected species living in the area.[3]
Due to the popularity of Jeju as a holiday spot in South Korea, the air route from Jeju to Seoul is the busiest airline route in the world.[34] In 2019, there were 85,000 flights from eight different airlines, meanwhile, 17 million seats were sold on flights between Gimpo and Jeju.[citation needed]
As Jeju has gained popularity as a resort destination, the number of international visitors from China, Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan has increased. In 1997, Jeju airport handled nine million passengers. In 2019, the airport passed the 30 million milestone despite being designed to handle a maximum of 26 million passengers.[citation needed] In 2020, the number of international visitors dropped due to COVID-19. However, the Seoul-Jeju route remained the busiest in the world and flight delays are still common.[35]
In 2019, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport announced a US$4.18 billion construction plan that would begin in 2021 near Seogwipo City in southern Jeju. The airport would take 50% of the domestic flights to Jeju and would help to transfer flights during bad weather. The airport would accommodate 18.98 million passengers per year.[35] However in 2021 the Minstry of Environment cancelled the plans due to their failure to protect the local environment, including Jeju's extensive groundwater reserves, and protected species in the area, such as the narrow-mouthed frog. A new US$ 5.1 billion airport plan was provisionally approved in 2023 with no project completion date set.[3]
Traffic by calendar year
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Annual passenger traffic at CJU airport.
See Wikidata query.
Traffic by calendar year
Passenger volume
Change over previous year
Aircraft operations
Cargo tonnage
1997
9,819,129
63,134
287,204
1998
7,469,980
023.9%
50,979
275,899
1999
8,242,134
010.3%
49,978
290,168
2000
9,125,939
010.7%
55,675
320,633
2001
9,320,337
02.1%
60,597
329,895
2002
9,939,700
06.6%
68,681
337,750
2003
10,802,989
08.7%
77,069
339,498
2004
11,104,341
02.8%
76,075
327,325
2005
11,354,925
02.3%
73,556
317,839
2006
12,109,836
06.6%
78,611
315,129
2007
12,296,426
01.5%
93,073
288,453
2008
12,448,084
01.2%
95,671
225,479
2009
13,643,366
09.6%
99,323
240,253
2010
15,724,360
015.3%
103,426
231,287
2011
17,201,878
09.4%
112,696
251,975
2012
18,443,047
07.2%
120,699
244,647
2013
20,055,238
08.7%
130,454
237,328
2014
23,197,796
015.7%
145,533
275,429
2015
26,237,562
013.1%
158,691
278,718
2016
29,707,364
013.2%
172,742
291,494
2017
29,604,363
00.35%
167,280
275,129
2018
29,455,305
00.5%
168,331
266,370
2019
31,316,394
06.3%
175,366
258,847
2020
21,054,696
032.8%
138,256
171,385
2021
25,802,550
022.6%
160,230
188,926
2022
29,703,662
015.1%
169,624
210,962
2023
29,096,271
02.0%
167,086
202,609
Source: Korea Airports Corporation Traffic Statistics[2]
On 5 February 1982, a Republic of Korea Air ForceFairchild C-123 Provider crashed 2.3 miles N of Hallasan Volcano while on approach to land at Jeju in bad weather. All 53 occupants (6 crew, 47 army troops) were killed.[36]
On 10 August 1994, Korean Air Flight 2033 overran the runway while attempting to land at Jeju International Airport. All 160 persons on board survived.[37]
On 28 July 2011, Asiana Airlines Flight 991 experienced an in-flight fire and crashed while attempting to divert to Jeju. Both pilots were killed.[38]
023.9%
010.3%
