Korea world's eighth-largest air transporter

Korean Air, the bigger of South Korea's two flag carriers, regained its spot as the No. 1 cargo carrier among the world's 250 airline service providers last year, while the country ranked eighth in total air transportation for passengers and cargo, aviation authorities said Sunday.

According to a report by the Korea Civil Aviation Development Association, Korean Air shipped nearly 8 billion ton-kilometers around the world last year, becoming the world's largest cargo transporter for a second consecutive year.

A ton-kilometer is calculated by multiplying the volume of cargo in tons by distance travelled in kilometers, and is the standard for comparing cargo transportation performance among airlines.

The airline ranked 17th in international passenger transportation, the report said.

Asiana Airlines ranked 17th in international cargo transportation, and its combined total with domestic rival Korean Air placed South Korea sixth among 189 member nations of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the report said.

The country's two airlines recorded about 13.6 billion ton-kilometers in international and domestic passenger and cargo services in 2005, the eighth-largest amount in the world, according to the report.

The United States came first in combined air transportation with more than 152 billion ton-kilometers, followed by China with some 25.7 billion ton-kilometers, then Germany, Britain, Japan, France and Singapore.

Korea's Incheon International Airport was ranked 40th last year in the total number of domestic and international passenger arrivals and departures, and fifth in the handling of combined cargo, but was 10th largest in the number of international passengers and third largest for the handling of international cargo, the report said.