Korea Airports Corporation Holds Video Conference with Kansai International Airport

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Korea Airports Corporation announced on the 21st that it held a video conference with the management of Kansai Airport Group in Japan to expedite the resumption of flights on regional airport routes to Osaka.

During the meeting, the management teams of both companies mutually confirmed the preparations necessary for increasing flights on the Gimhae~Osaka route and resuming Osaka routes from regional airports. They also discussed future cooperation plans such as marketing and promotional support upon route resumption and preparation of additional quarantine facilities.

Additionally, President Yoon Hyung-jung proposed strengthening the cooperative network in various aviation transport fields, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and establishing safe future air mobility (UAM) utilizing regional airports as hubs, and suggested working together on these issues.

The Osaka route was a popular route used by over 2.27 million passengers annually in 2019 from six international airports under Korea Airports Corporation (Gimpo, Gimhae, Jeju, Cheongju, Daegu, and Muan) before COVID-19. Since July 1st, flights have resumed twice weekly only from Gimhae Airport. Due to the recent depreciation of the yen and potential easing of Korea-Japan entry restrictions such as individual tourist visas and one-day entry limits, travel demand is expected to surge.

President Yoon Hyung-jung said, “Starting from the 25th, the Gimpo~Haneda route will increase to 28 flights per week, operating daily. In line with this, if Osaka routes from regional airports such as Gimpo~Osaka resume, it is expected that the diversification of Japan route networks and the exchange of people between Korea and Japan will become more active.”

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