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[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] One in four aircraft operated by Korean airlines was delayed by at least 15 minutes beyond the scheduled departure or arrival time last year, according to an investigation.


On Sunday, Rep. Ahn Tae-jun of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Committee, cited data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) and the aviation industry. The average delay rate for domestic and international flights operated by 10 Korean airlines in 2023 was 25.7%.


MOLIT classifies a flight as delayed if it departs from or arrives at the gate more than 15 minutes later than the scheduled time indicated on the ticket.


Based on this standard, 174,078 out of 678,489 flights were delayed last year. Among them, 82,214 domestic flights (22.2% of 370,306 total) and 91,864 international flights (29.8% of 308,183 total) were categorized as delayed.


The annual delay rate for 2023 increased by 2.1 percentage points from the previous year, reaching 23.6%. While the domestic delay rate dropped by 1.5 percentage points, the international delay rate surged by 6.5 percentage points, pushing the overall rate higher.


A MOLIT official explained, "The increase in international flight operations led to greater airport congestion, and frequent turbulence caused partial restrictions on international air routes, contributing to the rise in delays."


Among international flights, Air Seoul recorded the highest delay rate in 2023, with 46.6% of its 9,644 flights—4,492 in total—departing or arriving late. It was followed by Eastar Jet with a 38% delay rate (4,374 out of 11,507 flights) and Jin Air with 35.4% (11,370 out of 32,115 flights).


On the other hand, Air Busan had the lowest international flight delay rate, with only 3,866 out of 22,344 flights (17.3%) categorized as delayed.


Foreign airlines operating in Korea recorded an average international delay rate of 24.9% last year.


For domestic flights, T’way Air had the highest delay rate at 31.3%, with 13,635 out of 43,628 flights delayed. Air Seoul ranked second with a delay rate of 31% (1,330 out of 4,296 flights).


Asiana Airlines had the lowest domestic delay rate at 17.2%, with 9,388 out of 54,464 flights delayed.

 

 

 

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