Muan Airport to Operate Charter Flights to Vietnam, Thailand, and Mongolia in July

Expectations for Further Easing of Quarantine Measures for Early Normalization

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwan-joo] Jeonnam Muan International Airport will resume international flights after 2 years and 4 months.

According to a local charter flight travel agency, routes to Da Nang, Nha Trang, and Dalat in Vietnam, as well as Bangkok in Thailand and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, are expected to resume sequentially next month.

Additionally, the Hanoi route in Vietnam has completed charter flight contracts with airlines, and travel agencies plan to finalize and start selling products soon.

Charter flight travel agencies selling travel products report that although the response has not been as explosive as expected, most of the products for next month are already fully booked, and reservations for August products are also underway.

In particular, Vietnam, Thailand, and Mongolia, scheduled to start service next month, have already relaxed quarantine documents for entry, requiring only proof of completed vaccination upon arrival.

However, according to current domestic quarantine policies, when entering Korea from abroad, both a negative COVID-19 test certificate (PCR or RAT) and proof of completed vaccination are still required.

After entry, quarantine obligations were lifted as of the 8th, but the guideline to conduct a PCR test within 3 days is still in effect.

Although domestic quarantine guidelines have been considerably relaxed, additional easing of quarantine measures by the government is urgently needed for the rapid recovery of international flights at regional airports, similar to the abolition of PCR negative certificate submission requirements upon entry by major countries in the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

There is about one month until July, when international flights at Muan Airport will resume, so additional government quarantine easing measures for entrants, such as exemption from pre-entry PCR tests, are anticipated.

Joo Soo-jung, Director of Future Growth, preparing for charter flights in July, said, "With the recent easing of quarantine measures, international flights are expected to resume normally from next month," adding, "In the second half of the year, we will focus on recovering existing routes and work closely with related agencies, airlines, and charter travel agencies to discover new routes next year."

Meanwhile, until last month, the National Mokpo Quarantine Station, Gwangju Immigration Office, and Gwangju Customs completed preparations for the resumption of international flights at Muan Airport, and the airport corporation has finished remodeling the passenger terminal to improve convenience facilities. A first-floor restaurant for users is also scheduled to open this month.

Additionally, Jeonnam Province and Muan County have decided to provide substantial financial support for irregular international routes operating this year, which is expected to help airline route operations until overseas travel demand fully recovers.

Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwan-joo

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