T'way Air now takes passengers flying between Incheon and Singapore

T'way Air's A330-300 aircraft is used to fly the Incheon-Singapore route. [T'WAY AIR]

T'way Air is now flying the Incheon-Singapore route and plans to fly more mid- to long-distance routes as they become available after the potential merger of Korean Air Lines and Asiana.

The carrier flew from Incheon to Changi, Singapore, on May 28, and will do so every Wednesday and Saturday.

It plans to up the route's flight frequency in the future, aiming to fly the route once a day. T'way Air is now the only low cost carrier to fly the Incheon-Singapore route, with Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines the only other airlines flying it. Budget airline Jeju Air has been flying to Changi since 2019, but only from Gimhae International Airport in Busan.

T'way Air uses its A330-300 to fly to and from Singapore. The carrier received its first A330-300 in February and now has three, which have a flight range of over 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles). The range allows the carrier to fly from Korean airports to Australia and Eastern Europe.

The airline plans to use the A330-300 to also fly to and from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines are the only carriers that flies to the country, but the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in April allowed T'way Air and Jeju Air to fly to and from Ulaanbaatar.

T'way Air has been vocal about flying long-distance international routes in preparation for the redistribution of traffic rights set to take place if Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines merge. The Fair Trade Commission gave conditional approval to the mega merger, saying the airlines will have to give up some of their dominant routes to prevent monopoly.

Other smaller airlines are also flying to Singapore.

Air Premia, a budget carrier that started business in 2017, will start flying the Incheon-Singapore route starting June 29 with three flights a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The carrier also plans to fly to more farther destinations, including Los Angeles, Vietnam, Hawaii and Europe.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]