The number of registered airplanes in South Korea came to 853 last year, up 2.2 percent from the previous year, but the growth rate over the past four years slowed down, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on Sunday.

The growth was largely driven by the country’s budget air carriers who aggressively beefed up their fleets, the ministry said. Jet registration in the country has been on a steady increase from 724 in 2015, 761 in 2016, 793 in 2017 and 835 in 2018, but the growth rate slowed down from 10.6 percent, 5.12 percent, 4.2 percent and 5.3 percent over the period.

If the trend continues, the number of registered planes is expected to surpass 1,000 within four years, according to the ministry.

As of the end of 2019, 414 aircrafts were under operation for domestic and overseas transportation, 29 for small-scale transportation, 176 for commercial business and 234 for non-commercial business. Total 48 airplanes were newly registered last year while 30 were removed from the registration list. Local low-cost carriers added 19 new airplanes while full-service carriers nine.

By Pulse

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