The daily average number of flights between Qingdao Airport and Japan and South Korea increases to 41. [Photo/Guanhai News]

The cumulative international and regional passenger throughput at Qingdao Airport this year has exceeded 1 million, ranking 9th among cities nationwide, with a year-on-year growth of 272 percent, according to official data.

Since the start of this year, the international and regional aviation passenger market in Qingdao has been continuing to recover, with the daily average number of flights between Qingdao Airport and Japan and South Korea currently standing at 41. Among them, there are 16 daily flights from Qingdao to Seoul, making the Seoul route the third busiest international route in the country. The airport has launched two daily flights to Osaka, one daily flight to Busan, and 10 weekly flights to Tokyo, with the volume of flights to Japan and South Korea ranking third among airports nationwide.

To further facilitate air travel for passengers, Qingdao Airport has successively increased the frequency of four regional and international passenger routes to China's Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, and Kathmandu, and resumed the passenger route to Nha Trang, Vietnam.

Qingdao Airport, in collaboration with Eastern Airlines and Shandong Airlines, has established a seamless flight guarantee chain from major domestic hub airports to Japan and South Korea via Qingdao.

The direct flight international route linking Xi'an in Shaanxi province, Qingdao and Seoul has transported approximately 60,000 passengers to date, and direct flights from other domestic cities to Japan and South Korea via Qingdao are set to be launched this month.

To date, Qingdao Airport has opened a total of 20 international and regional passenger routes, connecting to regions including the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe, Australia, and more.