Allocation of Route Rights from Regional Cities to Major Chinese Destinations... Eastar Jet and Parata Air Awarded Incheon-Manila Routes

Ministry Allocates International Air Route Rights

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 23rd that it held the Air Traffic Review Committee and allocated 35 international air route rights to 11 domestic airlines.

The ministry explained that it focused on expanding international routes in line with the increasing passenger demand between Korea and China. In the first quarter of this year alone, the Korea-China passenger volume reached 4.39 million, surpassing pre-COVID-19 levels. Various international route rights were also allocated to regional airports such as Busan and Cheongju. This aims to improve the convenience of local residents' travel while also targeting an increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting these regions.

New direct flights have been established to major Chinese cities beyond Beijing and Shanghai. From Busan, route rights were allocated for Guangzhou (4 times per week), Hangzhou (4), Xiamen (3), and Guilin (4). At Cheongju Airport, airlines were granted rights for Beijing (4), Hangzhou (3), Chengdu (3), Xiamen (2), and Huangshan (2) per week. Yangyang Airport, which had previously suspended international routes, saw Parata Air receive rights to operate flights to Shanghai three times per week.

Incheon Airport Overview

At Incheon Airport, additional route rights have been allocated for key destinations such as Chongqing and Shenzhen, increasing the number of flights on those routes. New routes have also been established to Ningbo and Wuxi, where Korean companies have a presence. The ministry stated, "Route rights, which were previously concentrated among major airlines, have been expanded to include new operators such as low-cost carriers, increasing competition and providing consumers with more choices for air travel."

This year, newly secured route rights to Hungary have been allocated to both Asiana Airlines and T'way Air, increasing the total to 14 flights per week. Since launching service in 2014, only six weekly flights were operated. For Austria, the cap was four weekly flights since 1996, but this has now been increased to seven. Airlines have also obtained route rights to establish or expand new routes to Manado, Indonesia (Eastar Jet), Tashkent, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, and Kathmandu, Nepal.

On the Incheon-Manila route, which has high passenger demand, Korean Air (2,600 seats per week), Eastar Jet (1,330), and Parata Air (2,058) were allocated capacities. For flights to and from Australia, T'way Air (730 seats per week), Korean Air (325), and Asiana Airlines (308) shared the available capacity.

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