More than 18 million international passengers traveled via Incheon International Airport in the third quarter this year, the highest quarterly figure since the airport began operations in 2001, the airport's operator said Monday. A total of 18,156,842 people traveled overseas via Incheon International Airport from July to September, surpassing the previous record of 17.92 million in the third quarter of 2019, according to the Incheon International Airport Corp. Compared with the third quarter last year, the latest figure marks a 17.8 percent increase. The most popular routes were to Southeast Asia, with slightly over 5.02 million passengers traveling to the region via Incheon, followed by Japan with 4.39 million, China with 2.9 million and the Americas with 1.79 million. The brisk travel demand was driven by an increase in travelers during the summer vacation season and the Chuseok holiday, as well as a record number of passengers using routes to Japan and the Americas, along with the recovery in demand for flights between Incheon and China. The total number of international flights during the third quarter amounted to 105,672, up 3.2 percent from the previous quarterly record, set in the third quarter of 2019. "To meet the rising demand, the airport will promptly complete a four-stage expansion project scheduled for the year-end to provide safer and more convenient airport services," said Lee Hag-jae, the president of the airport operator. Source: Yonhap News Agency