Eastar Jet resumes flights to Japan after three-year hiatus

Economy

Published: 18 Jul. 2023, 18:20

Eastar Jet resumes flights to Japan after three-year hiatus

B737-8 passenger jet [YONHAP]

Korean low-cost carrier Eastar Jet said Tuesday it will resume services on its routes to Tokyo and Osaka in September after a three-year break due to Covid-19.

Eastar Jet will provide one flight a day on the Incheon-Tokyo route and two flights a day on the Incheon-Osaka route from Sept. 20, the company said in a statement.

Starting Sept. 2, the budget carrier plans to offer three flights a week on the route from Gimpo to Songshan in Taiwan.

In March, Eastar restarted services on domestic routes, starting with the Gimpo-Jeju route, a month after receiving an air operator certificate (AOC) from the transport ministry.

Eastar had suspended most of its flights on domestic and international routes since March 24, 2020, due to the pandemic, and its AOC became ineffective in May that year.

The carrier operated 23 B737-800s to serve a total of 38 domestic and international routes before the pandemic hit the airline industry three years ago.

Eastar Jet aims to achieve 146 billion won ($115 million) in sales this year. It reported 551 billion won in sales in 2019 before the pandemic broke out.

Yonhap