South Korean airlines are aggressively expanding their routes to China in anticipation of the summer vacation season. They are focusing on lucrative Chinese routes due to a recent increase in Chinese tourists and a gradual recovery in demand to pre-pandemic levels. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, the number of passengers on China routes last month reached 1,134,940, marking a 140% year-on-year increase and a recovery of up to 73% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
On June. 20., Korean Air announced plans to resume seven flights per week on its Busan-Shanghai and Jeju-Beijing routes starting next month. Additionally, from Aug. 19., the airline will resume five weekly flights between Incheon and Hefei. Routes that are currently operational will see expansions as well. Starting next month, Korean Air will increase its Incheon-Dalian route to 11 flights per week, up from four, and boost its Incheon-Tianjin route from once daily to twice daily starting Aug. 5.
Asiana Airlines will also resume flights between Incheon and Chengdu four times a week starting next month, increasing to daily service from Aug. 12. The airline plans to further expand its Incheon-Dalian service to 10 flights per week after resuming operations in August. Routes, including Incheon-Harbin, Incheon-Changchun, and Incheon-Changsha, previously operated four times weekly, will be increased to seven, nine, and five times weekly between July and August, respectively. Low-cost carriers (LCCs) have also joined the race to expand their routes to China. Eastar Jet will resume twice-weekly flights from Cheongju to Yanji and Busan to Yanji starting June. 28. It will also resume its seven-times-weekly Jeju-Shanghai route on July. 2. In April, Jeju Air launched a new four-times-weekly Jeju-Beijing route and introduced twice-weekly flights between Muan and Zhangjiajie, Jeju and Xian, and Muan and Yanji. Air Busan has increased its Busan-Yanji route frequency from three to six times weekly starting this month.
