Eastar CEO Cho Joong-seok answers questions from reporters during a press conference held at Courtyard by Marriott Seoul Botanic Park hotel in southern Seoul on March 14, 2023, ahead of its planned resumption of flights following three years of suspension due the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Eastar Jet Co., a South Korean low-cost carrier (LLC), said Tuesday it will resume flights later this month after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on putting its business back on track.
Eastar Jet, a China-focused carrier, received an air operator certificate (AOC) from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport last month.
Eastar will restart services initially on the Gimpo-Jeju route on Sunday and increase the number of its chartered planes to 10 from the current three B737-800s by the end of this year, Eastar Chief Executive Cho Joong-seok said in a press conference.
It will add three more B737-800s and four B737-8 planes by the end of the year, which are less-emitting and more fuel efficient, the executive said.
“We will inject planes into international routes to Japan, China, and Southeast Asian countries in the second half depending on travel demand,” he said.
Eastar aims to achieve 146 billion won (US$112 million) in sales this year, though the target is far lower than the 551 billion won in sales reported in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
The carrier has suspended most of its flights on domestic and international routes since March 24, 2020, due to the pandemic, and its AOC became ineffective in May that year.
It operated 23 B737-800s to serve a total of 38 domestic and international routes before the pandemic hit the airline industry three years ago.
This file photo offered by Eastar Jet shows a B787-800 passenger jet.
Eastar applied for court receivership in January 2021, as it had failed to find a strategic investor since July 2020, when Jeju Air Co., the country’s biggest budget carrier, scrapped its plan to acquire Eastar amid the pandemic.
In November 2021, local property developer Sung Jung Co. acquired the entire stake in Eastar following the carrier’s overall stock cancellation worth 48.5 billion won. Sung Jung injected 112 billion won into Eastar.
In January this year, Sung Jung handed over its stake in Eastar to VIG Partners, and the local private equity fund injected 110 billion won into the carrier.
South Korea has two full-service carriers — Korean Air and Asiana Airlines — and 10 LCCs — Jeju Air, Jin Air Co., Air Busan Co., T’way Air, Air Seoul Inc., Eastar Jet, Fly Gangwon, Air Premia, Aero K Airlines Co. and Air Incheon Co.
Air Incheon is a cargo-focused carrier, and the nine other low-cost ones are passenger carriers.
(Yonhap)
