Airline Industry Increases Routes for Chuseok Demand... Concerns Over Cutthroat Competition

On the 30th, as the peak summer vacation season begins, the domestic terminal at Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, is bustling with travelers. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Despite the strengthened COVID-19 social distancing measures, the aviation industry is increasing flights to accommodate passengers during the Chuseok holiday peak season. However, there are concerns that focusing on capturing limited domestic demand could lead to a repeat of low-cost price wars.

According to the aviation industry on the 13th, Jeju Air will operate an additional 36 flights from September 18 to 22 to serve travelers returning home for the Chuseok holiday. They increased flights on major routes with high passenger demand, including Gimpo~Busan (18 flights), Gimpo~Gwangju (10 flights), and Gimpo~Yeosu (8 flights).

T'way Air also plans to operate a total of 110,000 seats during the holiday period. The routes include eight in total, such as Gimpo~Jeju, Busan~Jeju, and Gimpo~Busan. In particular, the Gimpo~Busan route has been increased by 16 round trips, totaling about 6,000 seats during the Chuseok holiday.

Jin Air and Air Seoul have strengthened discount events. Jin Air offers a 10,000 KRW discount on flights during the holiday period, and Air Seoul is attracting passengers through lottery events and other promotions.

Although the industry is competing to increase flights, it is uncertain whether this will lead to an expansion in passenger demand.

Currently, Jeju Air and Jin Air are continuing to sell out the lowest-priced one-way tickets on the highly popular Gimpo~Jeju route during the Chuseok holiday, but bookings for basic fare tickets with added baggage are low. T'way Air and Air Seoul are also operating lowest-priced tickets on the same routes during the holiday period in the 40,000 to 80,000 KRW range, but overall seat bookings remain relatively open.

Compared to 2019 before COVID-19, when most tickets on major routes like Gimpo~Busan were sold out a week before the Chuseok holiday, the current reservation rates are far below that, according to industry analysis. The increase in seats and the anticipation that airfares will become cheaper as the holiday approaches are also significantly influencing consumer behavior.

In fact, major airlines have fueled price wars by selling some tickets at special prices around 10,000 KRW during holiday periods such as Lunar New Year and Chuseok since COVID-19. Passenger demand is also declining. As of last month, the total number of domestic and international passengers was 2.89 million, dropping to the 2 million range for the first time in five months.

An aviation industry official said, "With the strengthening of social distancing, there is a growing atmosphere of refraining from travel during the holiday period, which is negatively affecting passenger demand during the Chuseok holiday following the summer vacation season," adding, "This is a situation where a vicious cycle of low-cost price wars due to increased domestic flight tickets is repeating."

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