Many more Korea-Mongolia flights are on their way

Chinggis Khaan International Airport serves Mongolia's capital city of Ulaanbaatar. [SAMSUNG C&T]

Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Sunday it has agreed with its Mongolian counterpart to increase the number of flights connecting the two countries amid rising demand.

Korea will expand flight operations to include two additional airports in addition to its five existing locations, according to the ministry.

The decision will allow the government to review requests from domestic airlines that wish to launch new flights from Jeju International Airport and Yangyang International Airport in Yangyang County, Gangwon.

Korea and Mongolia will increase the number of flights departing from Gimhae Airport, near Busan, from the current six per week to nine.

The nations have also agreed to remove size limits for aircraft departing from regional airports, which were previously restricted to 200 seats.

For the peak season, which runs from June to August, the two countries agreed to lift the seat cap to at least 10,800 per week from the previous 9,000.

The parties also discussed fully lifting the cap on flight numbers, sources said they failed to reach an agreement as Mongolia expressed concerns over Korean carriers' dominating the market.

The number of travelers between the two countries has increased significantly in recent months, according to government data, from around 41,000 in 2021 to approximately 318,000 in 2022 and 653,000 last year.

Yonhap