Jeju Air Co., South Korea’s leading budget carrier, said Tuesday it will open the route to the capital of Laos next week as part of its diversification strategy to offset falling demand on Chinese routes. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Jeju Air Co., South Korea’s leading budget carrier, said Tuesday it will open the route to the capital of Laos next week as part of its diversification strategy to offset falling demand on Chinese routes.
Jeju Air plans to operate flights on the Incheon-Vientiane route starting Oct. 29. With the addition of the Vientiane route, the low-cost carrier will serve 37 routes to 26 cities in 12 countries, the company said in a statement.
Jeju Air, now with a fleet of 30 leased B737-800 jets, plans to have a total of 32 jets by the end of this year to better serve its customers.
In the three months ended June 30, its net profit soared to 15.1 billion won (US$14 million) from 4.6 billion won a year earlier, helped by its route diversification and greater low-cost travel demand.
Korean companies heavily dependent on China suffered declines in their second-quarter earnings as political tensions between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense system, called THAAD, in South Korea has yet to be resolved.
(Yonhap)
