South Korea's air passenger traffic rose from a year earlier in September, fueled by the increased number of people taking both domestic and international flights, the government said Monday.

In September, the country's overall air passenger traffic moved up a solid 7.3 percent on-year to 7.35 million, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The number of international air passengers to and from South Korea gained 4.3 percent on-year to 4.93 million last month, marking a rebound from three straight months of decline. The growth reflects the receding of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome scare that seriously hurt international air travel during the summer months.

The country's international passenger traffic shrank after it reported its first case of the viral respiratory disease on May 20.

The viral respiratory disease has so far claimed 37 lives here with one person succumbing to complications caused by MERS on Sunday.

Air traffic to Oceania rose 16.2 percent on-year, with numbers for Japan and Europe going up 9.4 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively. Passenger traffic to Southeast Asia increased 7.4 percent, while that to China contracted 3.6 percent.

The negative growth for China, however, marks a sharp improvement from an over 20 percent plunge in August.

Domestic passenger traffic, which has recovered relatively quickly from the MERS fallout, continued to grow at a fast pace, rising 14 percent on-year to a new high of 2.42 million for September.

The ministry said the rise is mainly due to more people traveling to the resort island of Jeju, off South Korea's southern coast.

Of all international passengers flying to and from South Korea, 64.3 percent, or 3.17 million, used flights operated by South Korean carriers, up 9.7 percent from a year earlier.

Numbers for the country's two full-service airlines -- Korean Air and Asiana Airlines -- rose 3.2 percent compared with the year before to 2.45 million, while figures for the five budget carriers surged 39.9 percent to 716,061 in the one-month period. No-frills carriers, such as Jeju Air, have been aggressively expanding short distance routes.

The combined market share of the country's five low-cost carriers on international flights reached 14.5 percent last month, while that of the two largest airlines -- Korean Air and Asiana -- stood at 49.8 percent over the cited period.

The latest data, meanwhile, showed air cargo increasing 3.6 percent on-year to 313,000 tons, with international cargo propping up growth.

The ministry said international cargo reached 288,000 tons, with numbers rising for China, Japan, Europe and Southeast Asia.

Air cargo to the Americas contracted. Domestic cargo was down 3.7 percent on-year to a little under 25,000 tons. (Yonhap)