Korean Air Resumes More Routes to China and Japan, Expands Int’l Flight Operations

Photo source: Korean Air

Korean Air is resuming multiple routes to China and Japan, including Changsha, Wuhan, Weihai, Fukuoka and Nagoya, after a hiatus of three years and six months. The Seoul Incheon-Changsha route will resume operations with flights five times a week from July 19, and the Seoul Incheon-Wuhan and Seoul Incheon-Weihai routes will resume operations from September 24 and September 27, respectively.

Supporting the bid for World Expo 2030 Busan

Starting on September 27, the airline will also resume its Busan-Fukuoka and Busan-Nagoya routes. Flights will operate twice a day to Fukuoka, and daily to Nagoya from Busan. These routes will be serviced by the Boeing 737-900ER, with a capacity of 173 passengers. With the resumption of these routes departing from Busan, Korean Air seeks to further support the Korean government’s bid for the World Expo 2030 in Busan.

Passenger capacity on international routes reaches 82% of pre-pandemic levels

Korean Air is also expanding its international flight operations to meet rising international travel demand through flight frequency increases.

Starting from July, the airline has increased frequencies and reinstated flights on its extensive global network. As of July 2023, the airline’s available seat kilometer (ASK) capacity reached approximately 82 percent of pre-pandemic levels in 2019, indicating a significant recovery in capacity.

In July, Korean Air implemented frequency increases on several routes. In the North American region, the airline has expanded the number of flights on the Seoul Incheon-Chicago route from 5 to 7 times per week, on the Seoul Incheon-Dallas route from 4 to 5 times per week, and on the Seoul Incheon-San Francisco route from 7 to 9 times per week. In Europe, the airline has increased flight frequencies on the Incheon-Frankfurt route from 5 to 7 times per week, and on the Incheon-Milan route from 3 to 4 times per week.

The airline is also increasing the number of weekly flights on its routes to Ulaanbaatar, Sapporo and Bali. The Seoul Incheon-Ulaanbaatar route has seen an increase from 7 to 8 times a week in July, and services will expand to 10 weekly flights for the month of August. The airline has also increased frequencies from 7 to 11 times a week between Seoul Incheon and Sapporo since July, and will increase flights from 9 to 11 times a week between Seoul Incheon and Bali by the end of August, adding additional flights on Friday and Saturday.

“Korean Air will continue to restore its network and capacity, and offer diverse schedules to meet international passenger demand,” the company said in an announcement.

Danae Airlines S.A. is the GSA (General Sales Agent) of Korean Air for Greece.