Gradual Opening of Locks... Aviation Industry Attempts to Resume International Flights

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] As the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in major countries slows down, the aviation industry is making full-scale attempts to resume international flights. However, since various countries still maintain strengthened entry controls to prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is expected to take considerable time before this leads to profitability.

According to the aviation industry on the 7th, Asiana Airlines flight OZ733 carrying about 200 Korean international students arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam at 12 PM on the same day. This is the first time since March that a Korean national carrier has transported Korean passengers to Noi Bai Airport in Vietnam. An Asiana Airlines official said, "Although it is a one-time flight, it is a meaningful progress in resuming the Korea-Vietnam route," and added, "We hope the air route between the two countries will normalize soon."

Recently, national carriers including Asiana Airlines and Korean Air have been exploring the resumption of international flights that were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Korean Air has resumed operations on a total of 32 international routes starting this month, and Asiana Airlines has resumed 13 international routes.

Low-cost carriers (LCCs) are also pushing to resume international flights. Jeju Air resumed its Incheon?Manila route from the day before, and other LCCs such as T’way Air and Air Busan are in the process of resuming international flights next month.

The reason national carriers are attempting to resume international flights is that the spread of COVID-19 in major countries has slowed down. In particular, commercial demand from overseas residents, international students, and businesspeople remains steady. A representative from a national airline said, "Although it is difficult to expect a recovery in tourism demand immediately, we will continue to resume flights focusing on routes with commercial demand."

However, since countries still have not lifted the strengthened entry procedures related to COVID-19, it is uncertain whether these attempts will translate into meaningful results. Although measures such as the 'fast-track system for businesspeople' have been introduced, many countries including Korea still maintain the '14-day mandatory quarantine system.'

An industry official said, "As mandatory quarantine to prevent the spread of COVID-19 remains, it does not seem that demand will recover to previous levels immediately," and added, "Internationally, some discussions such as issuing quarantine certificates are underway in parts of the European Union (EU), but there is still a long way to go."

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