Two South Korean low-cost operators are ramping up international flying, coinciding with the peak summer travel period and as the country eases travel restrictions.
In separate statements, Jin Air and T’way Air will also deploy widebodies across their network in anticipation of an upswing in demand.
Korean Air sister company Jin Air will from 22 July operate its Boeing 777-200ERs on three routes from Seoul Incheon: Clark in the Philippines, Guam, as well as Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.
The carrier adds that the widebodies will add around 52% more seats on the three routes, which it will operate daily.
Jin Air in mid-June was the first carrier in Asia-Pacific to disclose plans to return its Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered 777s to service, after a year-long grounding. The carrier has four 777-200ERs in its fleet, according to Cirium fleets data.
Jin Air also announced it will be resuming flights to Kalibo in the Philippines. Flights will commence 22 July and will be operated daily with its 737-800s.
Separately, compatriot T’way Air is also increasing the number of international flights in July.
The airline, which earlier this year took delivery of its first Airbus A330, will launch flights to Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar from 6 July. Flights will be operated thrice weekly with A330s.
Ulaanbaatar is the third city to receive A330 service, says T’way, after Singapore and Bangkok. On why it decided to launch flights to Mongolia, the airline cites a strong demand for cargo - particularly daily necessities and miscellaneous goods - as a key reason for deploying a widebody aircraft.
“T’way plans to increase revenue through cargo business to Mongolia,” it states in a Korean-language statement.
The carrier is also boosting capacity in other parts of its network: Singapore, Bangkok and Da Nang will now see daily flights, up from twice weekly operations.
Like Jin Air, T’way has launched operations to Kalibo in the Philippines, ramping up frequencies to daily flights by July.
As for Japan, T’way will increase capacity from Seoul Incheon to Tokyo Narita and Osaka to daily flights from 8 July. It hopes to further increase frequencies to thrice daily flights in the near term.
It is also restarting Seoul Gimpo-Tokyo Haneda flights, like other South Korean carriers, from September.
