The number of air passengers in South Korea fell to a record low last month due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, data showed, as countries around the globe impose lockdowns and restrict travel and people shun travel.

The number of air passengers stood at 1.74 million in March, according to industry data, marking the first time that the figure has fallen below 2 million since the country started to record such statistics from 1997.

The passenger number was 10.62 million in January but was halved to 5.5 million in February when the country reported the wide spread of the novel coronavirus.