The First Overseas Route Since Establishment Reopens to Japan! ... Air Busan Resumes Busan-Fukuoka Flights

Ahn Byung-seok, CEO of Air Busan (5th from the left), Yoon Hyung-jung, President of Korea Airports Corporation (6th from the left), Maruyama Kohei, Consul General of Japan in Busan (4th from the right), and officials from related organizations are taking a commemorative photo for the resumption of Busan-Fukuoka flights.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Air Busan has opened the air route between Busan and Japan, which had been closed for over two years, and has begun a vigorous flight.

On the 31st, Air Busan resumed operations on the Busan-Fukuoka route after about 27 months, starting with flight BX142 departing from Busan to Fukuoka.

Air Busan's Busan-Fukuoka route departs from Gimhae International Airport at 9:55 AM and arrives at Fukuoka Airport at 10:50 AM.

The return flight departs from Fukuoka Airport at 11:45 AM and arrives at Gimhae International Airport at 12:40 PM, operating once a week on Tuesdays.

The aircraft used is an A320-200 with 180 seats, and the flight time takes approximately 55 minutes.

Air Busan plans to increase the Busan-Fukuoka route to twice a week once the quarantine issues at Fukuoka local airport are resolved.

Since its establishment in March 2010, Air Busan designated the Busan-Fukuoka route as its first international route and has played a catalytic role in exchanges between the two cities by operating more than one round trip daily with affordable fares.

Over 10 years, Air Busan has operated about 20,000 flights on the Busan-Fukuoka route, transporting over 3 million passengers and leading the formation of the two cities into a single super-regional economic zone.

Since 2018, it has operated up to five round trips daily, providing passengers with more convenient travel opportunities and contributing to strengthened exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

As quarantine regulations for overseas arrivals are gradually eased, Air Busan plans to operate 11 international routes from Gimhae Airport by the end of July to meet the rapidly increasing travel demand.

Currently, Air Busan operates four routes: ▲Qingdao, China ▲Saipan and Guam in Oceania ▲Fukuoka, Japan, and plans to add seven more routes: ▲Osaka and Sapporo in Japan ▲Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia ▲Da Nang and Nha Trang in Vietnam ▲Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia ▲Cebu, Philippines.

With group tours between Korea and Japan becoming possible from the 10th, Air Busan explained that it plans to accelerate the resumption of Japanese routes to meet the explosive travel demand.

An Air Busan official said, “Based on proven safe flight capabilities and excellent service, we will lead a successful resumption of operations and continuously accelerate the expansion of international routes at Gimhae Airport.”

On the morning of the 31st, Air Busan held a commemorative event at Gimhae International Airport to mark the resumption of the Busan-Fukuoka route.

The event was attended by Air Busan CEO Ahn Byung-seok, Korea Airports Corporation President Yoon Hyung-jung, Maruyama Kohei, Consul General of Japan in Busan, and officials from related organizations.

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