The number of passengers who flew internationally on South Korean airlines in the third quarter reached 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

According to the transport ministry on Thursday, nearly 12-point-nine million passengers traveled on international flights operated by national airlines between July and September.

The figure is equivalent to 85 percent of the level posted in the third quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and up three and a half times from the same period last year.

The number of passengers who took domestic airlines on international routes in the first half of the year reached 66 percent of levels posted during the same period in 2019.

The rise is attributed to the strong popularity of flights to Japan, China and Southeast Asia, which have been expanded, with more than five million passengers making trips to Japan in the third quarter, up from the roughly four-point-four million posted in quarter three of 2019.

More than two-point-three million traveled to Vietnam, reaching 96 percent of the level posted four years ago, while nearly two-point-six million traveled on routes to China, or 52 percent of pre-pandemic levels.