'COVID-19 Exit' Domestic Flight Increase Rush... Some Concern Over Oversupply

On the 2nd, aircraft are parked at the apron of Incheon International Airport. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] As international routes have been blocked due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) crisis, national airlines are actively increasing domestic flights as an 'escape route.' Recently, there have been consecutive cases of flights to small regional airports, but some voices are raising concerns about oversupply caused by the rush to increase domestic flights.

According to the aviation industry on the 17th, Jeju Air will newly operate the Gimpo~Yeosu and Yeosu~Jeju routes starting on the 29th. Each newly established route will operate once daily. In the case of the Gimpo~Yeosu route, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, and Hi Air (a small airline) had previously operated, but Korean Air suspended operations after the COVID-19 crisis. Asiana Airlines continues to operate the Yeosu~Jeju route.

A Jeju Air official explained, "Yeosu has emerged as a popular tourist destination since the 2012 Expo," adding, "Since it is impossible to increase international routes, we decided to newly operate these routes considering future travel demand."

Jeju Air is not the only airline challenging small regional airports. Air Busan will resume flights on the Ulsan~Gimpo and Ulsan~Jeju routes starting on the 25th. This is 55 days after suspending Ulsan-origin routes due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The biggest reason national airlines, which had been focusing on increasing domestic flights to Jeju, are expanding routes to small regional airports is the deterioration of profitability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With most international flights suspended, domestic flights are the only source of revenue for national airlines to continue their business activities. Airlines have already expanded flights at medium-sized regional airports such as Gimpo, Gimhae, Cheongju, and Daegu airports since the end of last month.

There is also considerable expectation that travel demand will recover mainly on domestic routes once the current strict social distancing measures are lifted. A national airline official said, "When strict social distancing measures are lifted in the future, suppressed domestic and international travel demand will begin to surge significantly," adding, "Since the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing in many countries overseas, demand may concentrate on domestic travel."

However, some voices express concerns about oversupply due to excessive concentration. Although the number of daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in Korea has stabilized to around 20 per day, the possibility of a second wave remains.

There are also concerns that the supply growth rate is faster than the recovery in demand. In fact, from March 1 to the 5th of this month, over five weeks, the number of flights on the Busan~Gimpo route reached 959 flights?Air Busan 481, Korean Air 340, Jeju Air 138?while the number of passengers was only about 109,000, which is lower than usual. During the same period, the average load factor reportedly remained between 60% and 80%.

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