Charter Flight for Wuhan Residents Delayed, Government "Aiming for Evening Departure, Full Effort in Negotiations" (Update)

Considering reducing charter flights from 2 to 1
Korean Air "Still at a stage where we have not received notification from the government regarding flight timing"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The charter flight scheduled to depart from Incheon Airport on the morning of the 30th to evacuate South Korean nationals staying in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, and nearby areas has been rescheduled due to delays in approval from the Chinese government. The government is continuing negotiations with the Chinese side, aiming for an evening departure, while reportedly considering reducing the number of charter flights from two to one.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the operation plans for two Korean Air charter flights originally scheduled to depart Incheon Airport at 10 a.m. and noon were changed. The Consulate General in Wuhan issued an urgent notice early in the morning stating, "Due to delays in approval from the Chinese side, the notice to gather at the tollgate by 10:45 a.m. for boarding the temporary flight on the 30th has been changed," and asked those currently staying there to wait for further announcements.

If the charter flights had departed as planned, the two flights would have each picked up about 370 South Korean nationals locally at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively, and returned to Korea. A Korean Air official in charge of the charter flights said, "We have not yet received notification from the government regarding the flight schedule," adding, "However, we are preparing crew deployment so that we can operate immediately once the Chinese authorities grant flight approval."

With the delay in the charter flight deployment plan, the government is continuing negotiations with the Chinese government through local diplomatic missions, aiming for an evening departure. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, "We are continuing discussions with the Chinese government to dispatch the charter flight this evening." However, the official refrained from providing detailed reasons for the delay in Chinese government approval, making it difficult to determine whether it is a simple delay.

Additionally, it is reported that the government is considering reducing the originally planned two charter flights to one. The government had planned to deploy two charter planes?an Airbus A330 with a capacity of about 270 passengers and a Boeing B747 with a capacity of about 400 passengers?to repatriate approximately 720 overseas Koreans over two days, the 30th and 31st.

Instead of transporting passengers divided between two planes with spaced seating, the government is reportedly reconsidering boarding all passengers on a single plane. This is interpreted as a response to the delay in the Chinese government's approval process. A government official stated, "We are negotiating with the Chinese government to operate at least one charter flight this evening," and added, "We will do our best to ensure that our nationals can return home as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, charter flights deployed by the U.S. and Japanese governments have begun evacuating their nationals staying in Wuhan. The U.S. government’s charter flight arrived on the morning of the 29th (local time) at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, about 100 km east of Los Angeles, California, carrying approximately 240 people, including staff from the U.S. Consulate in Wuhan and U.S. nationals.

The Japanese government also deployed charter flights to repatriate 206 Japanese residents from Wuhan on the previous day. On the morning of the 30th, a second charter flight brought back 210 people. The remaining approximately 230 people are scheduled to be transported sequentially by charter flights. Governments of France, Canada, Sri Lanka, India, and others are also negotiating with the Chinese government to repatriate their nationals via flights.

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