Asiana will be first domestic airline to reopen Incheon-Beijing route

An Asiana Airlines plane [ASIANA AIRLINES]

The Incheon-Beijing route will reopen for the first time in two years and four months as Asiana Airlines resumes the flights from Saturday.

Asiana Airlines announced Wednesday that it will resume the Incheon-Beijing route starting Saturday, the first domestic airline to reopen the route since it was closed after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The route was suspended in March 2020.

Asiana Airlines will operate the Incheon-Beijing route once a week, with the departing plane leaving Incheon International Airport at 8:20 a.m. every Saturday and arriving at Beijing Capital International Airport at 9:40 a.m. The return flight will depart from Beijing at 12:40 p.m. the same day and arrive at Incheon at 3:55 p.m. An A330 aircraft with 298 seats will fly the route.

The Incheon-Beijing route is considered to be a key route for political and economic exchanges between Korea and China. About 1.1 million people traveled the route per year before the Covid-19 crisis.

“We will do our best to operate the route conveniently for travelers from both countries,” said an Asiana Airlines official. “Our operations of the route will be gradually expanded in the future.”

Asiana Airlines plans to offer benefits to travelers flying on the Incheon-Beijing route such as selling special tickets and giving free additional checked baggage services.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]