South Korea's Asiana Airlines is withdrawing from the Seoul Gimpo-Busan and Busan-Jeju routes and instead will be codesharing with Air Busan which is launching operations on 27 October.
An Asiana spokeswoman in Seoul says Air Busan is launching on 27 October with 63 return flights per week from Seoul Gimpo to Busan and on 1 December Air Busan is launching a 35-times-weekly service from Busan to Jeju.
She says Air Busan will have a fleet of two Boeing 737-500s.
Asiana will be withdrawing from the two routes completely and will be codesharing on all of Air Busan's flights, she adds.
The Star Alliance carrier has been serving Seoul Gimpo-Busan and Busan-Jeju 59- and 34-times weekly respectively, according to Innovata.
Air Busan is sourcing its first two aircraft from Asiana which has management rights over the low-cost carrier.
Asiana owns 46% of Air Busan while the other owners include the Busan Government and a select group of businesses from Busan.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
