South Korea: More overseas flights resume, airfares fall

From 2020 airlines suffered a major reduction in their passenger business due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But recently, with the easing of some quarantine measures, they have been taking steps to normalize their business by resuming or increasing overseas routes. However, the need to maintain certain regulations to safeguard public health ― such as mandatory quarantine for unvaccinated arrivals and the requirement that all arrivals submit negative PCR tests ― could mean it will take some time for airlines to recover demand for overseas travel fully. Despite these challenges, local airlines are starting to resume international routes that were earlier suspended. Compared to the previous month, Korean Air reopened international flights to 16 locations including LA, Vancouver, Toronto, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Southeast Asia, Oceania, China and Japan. Asiana Airlines also increased the frequency of flights to Los Angeles, Sydney, Frankfurt, London and resumed flights to Hawaii after a suspension of 25 months. Low-cost carriers have also increased their numbers of regular flights. Jeju Air plans to operate 14 international routes and conduct a total of 174 flights in May, which is an increase of 98% in the number of international flights compared to this month. For example, the country's leading low-cost carrier airline will resume flights to Da Nang and Nha Trang in Vietnam, Bohol in the Philippines, and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. T'way Air will also resume flights to Fukuoka, Osaka, Da Nang, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. Jin Air is also promoting the resumption of flights mainly to Japan and Southeast Asia, while Air Seoul will resume routes to Da Nang and Nha Trang, Vietnam.<br/>