Air Seoul "Worst Situation Over" Promotes Route Diversification to China, Vietnam, Russia, and More

Jokyuyoung CEO "The Worst Situation Has Passed... Performance Will Improve from Q1"

Jo Gyu-young, CEO of Air Seoul (Provided by Air Seoul)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Air Seoul is diversifying its route portfolio this year by launching new routes to China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Russia. This move aims to differentiate the airline to overcome the sharply cooled market conditions caused by decreased demand on Japan routes due to Korea-Japan tensions.

Air Seoul announced on the 8th that it plans to start flights to China's Shandong Peninsula, Taiwan, Vietnam's Quy Nhon, and Russia's Vladivostok within this year.

Since its first flight in 2016, Air Seoul, as a latecomer, had focused on short-haul routes such as Japan to achieve profitability, but it suffered considerable damage last year as the boycott of travel to Japan intensified.

In response, Air Seoul has actively developed new routes, including entering the domestic route (Gimpo~Jeju) from October, and launching new flights from Incheon to Zhangjiajie, and from Incheon to Hanoi and Nha Trang in Vietnam.

Along with new route development this year, Air Seoul plans to compete by strengthening differentiated competitiveness such as wider seats and free in-flight movie services compared to other airlines.

Cho Kyu-young, CEO of Air Seoul, said, "The impact was especially severe in the third quarter due to the Japan route issue, but I believe the worst is over," adding, "Performance began to improve from the first quarter of this year, and we expect overall good results in 2020."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.