South Korea’s leading budget carrier Jeju Air Co. said Tuesday it carried its 60 millionth passenger on Monday, a milestone achieved in its 12th year in business.

Passengers traveling with the oldest budget carrier have been increasing sharply amid strong demand for budget air travel in Korea. Cumulative passengers totaled 10 million almost seven years after the service, but the growth pace has accelerated recently.

About 56.7 percent, or 34 million, of its passengers used the airlines for domestic flight. Another 43.3 percent, or 26 million, flew to overseas destinations - 18.3 percent to Japan, 11.9 percent to Southeast Asian countries, 8.1 percent to Chinese-speaking territories, 4.8 percent to Guam and Saipan and 0.2 percent to Russia.

Jeju Air has kept up efforts to add more new routes and regular flights to cement its leadership in the local LLC market. Routes to Japanese cities rose to take up 18.3 percent of total flights in a year.

The company aims for a new milestone of 100 million passengers in 2021.

By Hwang Soon-min and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]