International flights pick up speed, set to recover 60% of pre-Covid levels

An Asiana Airlines plane headed for Haneda, Japan takes off from Gimpo International Airport on Sept. 6. [NEWS1]

International flights are expected to recover to 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels this winter, according to airlines and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The Transport Ministry announced on Oct. 30 that it has approved schedules for regular international and domestic flights during the winter period — from Oct. 30 this year to March 25 next year — submitted by domestic and foreign airlines.

International flights of 74 airlines were approved in consideration of the recent easing of domestic and international quarantine regulations and the increasing demand for travel in the peak winter season, with 162 routes and 2,711 flights per week: 58 percent of the pre-pandemic levels.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is planning to approve additional flights considering recovering travel demand. If airlines operate as approved and additional flights are added, the recovery rate is expected to reach 60 percent.

By region, routes of flights to Southeast Asia, the Americas and Europe are expected to recover 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels, while routes to Oceania and the Middle East are expected to recover more than 90 percent. The Northeast Asian route is expected to recover 46 percent of pre-pandemic levels, as Japan’s quarantine restrictions have been lifted but China’s entry restriction policies continue.

Flights between Incheon and Brisbane, Australia, will resume, flying three times a week. Those to Palau will resume, flying four times a week, Macau 29 times a week and Tel Aviv, Israel, three times a week.

Flights to Japan will largely recover, with the Incheon-Okinawa route resuming to 25 times a week and those to Takamatsu seven times a week. The Gimpo-Haneda route will increase from the current 28 flights a week to 56 flights a week.

International flights at regional airports will also be significantly expanded.

Gimhae International Airport plans to operate 325 international flights per week, an increase of about 20 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels, and Daegu International Airport will operate 87 international flights per week and Jeju International Airport, 41.

Domestic flights are scheduled to operate 1,909 times a week on 19 routes from nine airlines, resuming a similar scale to flight numbers from the 2019 winter period.

The number of passengers increased rapidly after the recent abolition of mandatory PCR tests upon entry to Korea and the resuming of visa-free entry to Japan. As of the third week of October, the number of passengers was 586,000, which is about 35.3 percent of the monthly average from October 2019. The passenger recovery rate was calculated to be 28.8 percent in August, a sharp increase from the 5.6 percent of January this year.

“Flights have significantly recovered as quarantine regulations in major countries, including those of Japan, have been lifted,” said Ha Dong-soo, deputy minister for the Office of Civil Aviation of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. “We will prepare for a full recovery in passenger demand by thoroughly inspecting airport operation personnel.”

BY KIM EUN-BIN [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]