Korean Air expands major routes as pandemic hiatus finally eases

Industry

Published: 04 Oct. 2023, 18:05 Updated: 04 Oct. 2023, 18:07

Korean Air expands major routes as pandemic hiatus finally eases

Korean Air Lines' Boeing 787-9 plane [KOREAN AIR LINES]

Korean Air is expanding routes for its winter schedule that will take travelers to more cities in Vietnam, Japan and China.

The carrier's seat capacity reached approximately 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels as of September, lifting major suspensions undertaken in June. The launch of the winter schedule is expected to recover to over 90 percent.

Korean Air is set to launch a new flight service to Phu Quoc, Vietnam, starting on Nov. 26. Passengers can enjoy daily flights to the scenic island, often referred to as the "Pearl Island" of Vietnam.

After a hiatus of three years and seven months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Korean Air will resume services to cities in Japan and China, commencing in late October.

From Oct. 29, Korean Air will also resume routes from Incheon to Kagoshima and Okayama. Routes to Niigata will resume from Oct. 31.

For the China routes, Busan-Shanghai and Incheon-Xiamen will operate daily, while Incheon-Kunming will fly four times a week from Nov. 19.

The full-service carrier will also expand its network capacity for China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Oceania and North America.

The Incheon-Beijing frequency will increase to 18 times a week from daily. Jeju-Beijing will operate four times a week from three. Incheon-Shenzhen and Incheon-Xian will become daily from four times a week. Incheon-Wuhan will increase to four times a week from three. Incheon-Hong Kong will operate four times daily from just two flights a day.

Frequencies on the Incheon-Osaka and Incheon-Fukuoka routes will increase to four flights daily from three. The Incheon-Tokyo route will also see four daily flights, up from two. The airline will also expand services on the Incheon-Nagoya route to operate 17 times a week from two daily until Dec. 27.

In the Southeast Asian region, the airline will increase flight frequencies on the Incheon-Bangkok route to five times daily from three. The Incheon-Manila route jumps to three times daily from two and the Incheon-Delhi and Incheon-Kathmandu routes to four times a week from three. The Incheon-Chiang Mai route frequency will increase twice daily from daily until March 2 next year.

For long-haul routes, frequencies on the Incheon-Auckland and Incheon-Brisbane routes will increase to daily from five times a week from Nov. 10 to March 18 next year. The Incheon-Las Vegas route frequency will also increase to five times a week from four.