Changes in Flights by Route Before and After the Middle East War (YoY) ✈️ Flight growth continued after the Middle East war—but the picture varied sharply by region. South Korea’s international flights remained above year-earlier levels after the conflict began, but regional trends diverged. While Japan, China, the Americas, and Europe continued to record positive growth, flights to Oceania fell 13.5% and those to the Middle East & Africa dropped 43.7% year on year in the post-war period. What explains the divide? Short-haul markets such as Japan and China continued to benefit from solid demand and relatively lower exposure to higher fuel costs, while resilient demand and airline capacity strategies may have supported routes to the Americas and Europe. The decline in weaker markets may also reflect airlines prioritizing limited aircraft and operating resources for routes with more resilient demand. Rather than a broad contraction, the emerging pattern points to a reconfiguration of...
Foreign tourist arrivals to South Korea are holding near the 2 million mark per month. ✈️🇰🇷 In H1 2026, Korea welcomed a record 10.71 million foreign tourists—up 21.3% year-over-year and 26.9% from H1 2019. After exceeding 2 million in March, monthly arrivals remained close to that level through June. The growth was broad-based across source markets, with China, Japan, and Taiwan all recording strong increases. Inbound tourism also expanded beyond the capital region, with arrivals through regional airports and seaports growing substantially compared with 2019. And the momentum continues: July recorded 2.09 million foreign tourist arrivals, the highest monthly figure so far this year. đź“„ For an in-depth analysis of Korea’s H1 2026 inbound and outbound tourism performance, read Yanolja Research Brief Vol.14. Vol.14 Analysis of Korea's Inbound and Outbound Tourism Performance for H1 2026 đź“Š For the latest monthly tourism data, visit the Yanolja Research Data Lab. Yanolja Research Da...