Active Use of Reduced Air Routes Last Year, "Fuel Costs Saved 19.7 Billion KRW"

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Wanyong] It has been revealed that the active operation of shortened air routes last year significantly reduced international flight times and fuel expenses. Shortened air routes are temporary air routes that cannot be used under normal circumstances but can be utilized under specific conditions in consultation with the Ministry of National Defense.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 30th that, based on the analysis of air route operations last year, out of 276,356 international flights, 99,115 flights used shortened air routes, reducing a total flight distance of 2.15 million km (approximately 1.16 million miles).

This corresponds to a usage rate of about 36% for shortened flight routes, which is an increase of approximately 10 percentage points compared to the previous year's 26% (52,982 out of 203,029 international flights).

In particular, with the added effect of traffic recovery, the total shortened flight distance increased by 121% compared to the previous year.

Among international routes, the South China route shortened approximately 1,152,000 km (622,021 miles), the Americas and Japan routes shortened about 378,000 km (204,300 miles), followed by the Southeast Asia route which shortened about 201,000 km (108,294 miles).

The increase in shortened air routes also led to reductions in fuel expenses and carbon emissions. Approximately 15,127 tons of aviation fuel worth about 19.7 billion KRW were saved, and a reduction of 47,756 tons of carbon emissions was achieved.

Jung Yongsik, Director of Aviation Safety Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, “Shortened air routes are the result of proactive administration by the Ministry’s air traffic controllers in close consultation with the Ministry of National Defense. They not only help reduce fuel costs but also greatly improve punctuality, so we will continue to expand their use.”