This photo provided by the South Jeolla Provincial office shows Muan International Airport in Muan, 385 kilometers south of Seoul.
SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — The airline industry’s reopening of international routes has resulted in a shortage of aircraft, resulting in a reduction of flights on certain domestic routes.
The weekly frequency of domestic flights linking Muan International Airport with Jeju International Airport and Gimpo International Airport is scheduled to be cut from the current three times to two times during the period from next month to March next year, according to the South Jeolla provincial government.
Jeju Air Co., South Korea’s leading budget carrier which is currently operating one flight from Yeosu Airport in the southern city of Yeosu to Gimpo and Jeju per day, plans to withdraw the service.
If this plan is realized, the daily frequency of flights to Gimpo and Jeju from the airport will be cut to four and two times, respectively.
To operate international routes, airlines need to use more than 80 percent of the slots assigned by each airport.
In particular, domestic airlines are struggling to meet demand since they returned a substantial portion of the leased aircraft in their fleet after the outbreak of the pandemic.
In the pre-pandemic period, domestic airlines operated about 500 aircraft, of which about 400 were operated on a lease basis.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
