Southeast Gateway Airport Promotion Committee Holds Forum on Attracting Integrated LCC Headquarters to Busan

An expert forum is underway for the relocation of the integrated LCC headquarters to Busan and the development of the regional aviation industry.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] The Southeast Gateway Airport Promotion Committee held an expert forum titled ‘Attracting the Integrated LCC Headquarters to Busan and Developing the Regional Aviation Industry’ on the 21st at the 2nd floor international conference hall of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

This forum was organized to find strategies for attracting the integrated LCC headquarters to Busan and to explore the development of the regional aviation industry, amid the UK and US postponing the announcement of their corporate merger review results for Korean Air and Asiana Airlines on the 14th and 15th.

The forum proceeded with a keynote presentation by Professor Choi Pan-ho of the Department of Aviation Services at Silla University, followed by an expert panel discussion chaired by Kim Jae-won, Dean of the College of Aviation at Silla University, and a Q&A session.

Professor Choi presented on the topic ‘Attracting the Integrated LCC Headquarters to Busan and Directions for Regional Aviation Industry Development.’

In his presentation, Professor Choi emphasized the importance of regional airlines and the necessity of attracting the integrated LCC headquarters by mentioning the regional hub airline Air Busan’s contribution to the local economy, which generated a consumption effect of 500 billion KRW by attracting 430,000 inbound tourists annually.

He also argued that the advantages of Air Busan, the only low-cost carrier with an independent office building, and the utilization of existing infrastructure such as the Gimhae Korean Air Tech Center should be actively leveraged to minimize new investments in attracting the integrated headquarters.

Professor Choi added that if attracting the integrated LCC headquarters is not possible, a countermeasure should be to pursue regional corporatization through the separate sale of Air Busan.

In the subsequent discussion, Park In-ho, Executive Director of the Busan Economic Revival Citizens’ Coalition; Ki Nam-hyung, Head of Strategic Communications at Air Busan; Byun Sung-tae, Executive Director of Eunsan Shipping & Aviation; Yoon Tae-hwan, Professor of Hotel and Convention Studies at Dong-Eui University; and Shim Jae-woon, Head of Economic Policy at the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also highlighted the importance of regional hub airlines contributing to the local economy through the creation of large-scale quality jobs, tourism industry, and aviation MRO-related industry development.

The participants emphasized that if the integrated LCC headquarters does not come to Busan, the region will lose its hub airline, and they discussed strategies for attracting the integrated LCC headquarters and developing the regional aviation industry.

A representative of the Southeast Gateway Airport Promotion Committee stated, “For the successful operation of the Gadeokdo New Airport and the attraction of the 2030 World Expo to Busan, a hub airline based at Gadeokdo New Airport is essential,” adding, “We plan to continuously promote projects to raise awareness of the necessity of attracting the integrated LCC headquarters to Busan and to gain public consensus on this matter.”

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