Duty-free area in Incheon International Airport (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Major South Korean airlines are significantly expanding their routes to China and Japan during the summer schedule period from March 30 to October 25, capitalizing on expected high demand for travel to destinations less impacted by inflation and currency fluctuations.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korean carriers will operate 128 routes to China and Japan this summer, up from 115 routes last year. Nine out of 10 passenger airlines, excluding the long-haul carrier Air Premia, are either increasing frequencies or launching new routes to these destinations.
Korean Air will increase its Incheon-Fuzhou flights from three to four times weekly. This brings the airline’s China operations to 195 weekly flights, reaching about 90% of its 2019 levels. The carrier is also launching a new twice-weekly service between Incheon and Kobe starting April 18.
Asiana Airlines is introducing new daily flights from Incheon to Chongqing and Chengdu. The airline is also boosting frequencies on several routes, including Incheon-Dalian from seven to 10 weekly flights, and Incheon-Yanji from five to seven weekly flights, with a further increase to eight flights planned from April 28.
Low-cost carriers are also expanding their presence. Jeju Air is resuming twice-weekly services from Jeju to Xi’an and Hong Kong. The airline has increased its Incheon-Osaka flights to 28 times weekly and doubled its Incheon-Matsuyama service to 14 flights per week.
T’way Air is launching new thrice-weekly services from Cheongju and Daegu to Yanji in April, while Jin Air will become the sole operator of five weekly flights between Incheon and Ishigaki from April 3.
Industry experts expect continued strong demand for travel to China and Japan, which represented 28.3% and 15.5% of international passenger traffic, respectively, in 2024. “Chinese travel demand is likely to remain strong following the visa-free policy implementation for Koreans late last year,” an industry official said. “While the yen is strengthening, demand for travel to Japanese regional cities remains steady, and short-haul routes are relatively less sensitive to currency fluctuations.”
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
