Incheon Airport Corporation Co-hosts Transfer Briefing with National Airlines for Travel Agencies in Major US Cities

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on the 23rd that it jointly held a transit briefing session with Korean Air and major local travel agencies to promote the recovery of air travel demand in the Americas region.

The corporation planned this briefing session to promote the convenience of transit at Incheon Airport to key local travel agencies in collaboration with domestic airlines, while also encouraging the sale of transit products from the Americas to Asia. The event, held on the afternoon of the 22nd local time at the Sheraton Hotel in New York, USA, was attended by about 60 people including representatives from the corporation, Korean Air, Delta Air Lines, major local travel agencies, and media outlets in the Americas.

Following the New York briefing, the corporation plans to hold another transit briefing session on the afternoon of the 26th local time at the Line Hotel in LA, together with Asiana Airlines and the Korea Tourism Organization. They intend to actively secure transit demand from the Americas to Asia.

Passenger traffic on the Incheon-Americas route steadily grew by an average of 4.7% for passengers and 4.3% for transit passengers annually from 2017 to 2019 before COVID-19. The Americas region was the largest transit passenger transport area in 2019, handling 1.88 million transit passengers.

After COVID-19, thanks to the rapid easing of quarantine measures in the Americas region, the passenger recovery rate as of the first half of this year is the highest (about 40% compared to 2019). Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are expanding supply by increasing flight frequencies and deploying large aircraft, and Air Premia is preparing to launch a new LA route in October. This region is expected to lead the demand recovery at Incheon Airport in the post-COVID-19 era.

Through this briefing session, the corporation introduced Incheon Airport’s excellent facilities and services to local travel agencies. They focused on promoting Incheon Airport’s competitiveness as a transit airport, including transit convenience facilities specialized for transit passengers, transit lounge promotions, K-content experience services, free transit tours, and the K-Stopover program.

Kim Kyung-wook, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, said, "The Americas region is Incheon Airport’s number one transit transport area and the market showing the fastest demand recovery after COVID-19. We expect that this briefing session and roadshows will serve as a catalyst for normalizing air travel demand." He added, "The corporation will actively cooperate with the aviation and travel industries to promptly expand international flight supply and normalize demand."

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