Jeju Air regains No. 1 spot among Korean LCCs in February: data

Jeju Air reclaimed its lead position among Korea's low-cost carriers last month, government data showed Wednesday, following a temporary decline in passengers due to a fatal crash that claimed the lives of 179 passengers in December. According to the data from the transport ministry, Jeju Air recouped its position as the leading LCC in terms of the number of passengers with 879,000, followed by Jin Air and T'way Air, at 863,000 and 838,000, respectively. In January, Jeju Air had fallen to third place following the Dec. 29 crash at Muan International Airport. The airline reclaimed the lead despite having reduced the number of flights to enhance its operational safety. Air Busan, which also suffered a fire-related incident in late January, meanwhile, saw a significant decline in passenger numbers, according to the data. The airline carried 494,000 passengers in February, down 26.3% from the previous month. Domestic travel passengers plunged 52.8% to 122,000, while international passengers fell 9.6% to 371,000.<br/>