Airlines are enjoying a sales boom in international flights as travelers take advantage of the five-day Lunar New Year holiday to escape the unrelenting cold spell in Korea, airport officials said Thursday.

Incheon International Airport is expecting a five-year record of 588,900 passengers from Feb. 1-6 for the Seollal holiday, an increase of nearly 14 percent from last year’s 517,242.

This year’s Seollal holiday gives most workers the opportunity to enjoy a five-day vacation with the following weekend. Some are cashing in on their vacation days to take off the Monday and Tuesday before the holiday to indulge in a nine-day vacation.

As of Thursday, more than 90 percent of flights are booked on the nation’s biggest international carriers, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, and other airlines, for the holiday.

Currently, 99 percent of Korean Air flights to Bangkok, Phuket and other routes to Southeast Asian countries are booked, and 90 percent of Chinese and European routes are booked as well.

Asiana Airline flights to the same countries, including popular winter destinations in Japan such as Toyama and Miyazaki are already booked to capacity.

Oceanic flights arriving here on Feb. 6, the Sunday after the Seollal holiday, are also booked to capacity, while 90 percent of the flights returning the day before are booked as well.

“It seems as though the number of international travelers during the Seollal holiday increased from last year because of a combination of people wanting to escape the recent cold spell and those wishing to take advantage of the 9-day holiday,” according to a Korean Air official.

The airport has seen a steady rise in the number of patrons from 331,783 in 2006, to 516,743 in 2008, although sales saw a sharp dive in 2009 to 451,457.

By Robert Lee (rjmlee@heraldcorp.com)