New routes help Jeju Air net profit rise 13% in Q3

Jeju Air, Korea’s leading budget carrier, said Tuesday its third-quarter net profit rose 13 percent, helped by its route diversification.

Net profit for the three months ending Sept. 30 climbed to 32.1 billion won ($29 million) from 28.5 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

“Jeju Air has aggressively diversified its routes despite a sharp decline in demand from China. It has also preemptively strengthened its fleet to meet a rising demand for low-cost travel,” the statement said.

Operating profit rose 5.9 percent to 40.4 billion won in the third quarter from 38.2 billion won a year ago. Sales were up 20 percent to 266.6 billion won from 221.7 billion won during the same period, it said.

Jeju Air, now with 30 B737-800 leased jets, plans to add one more B737-800 jet by the end of this year.

YONHAP