Jeju Air has recently experienced a significant increase in passengers on its Chinese routes, driven by rising travel demand following the Korea-China visa-free policy. The airline is expanding its route capacity to meet this demand and is considering launching new routes by the end of the year.
As of August 10, Jeju Air reported that it supplied over 494,300 seats on its Korea-China routes from January to July this year, a 26.8% increase compared to approximately 389,900 seats during the same period last year.
During the same timeframe, the number of passengers reached over 427,300, marking a 37.4% rise from last year's 311,000. The load factor improved from 79.8% last year to 86.4% this year, an increase of 6.6 percentage points.
Jeju Air attributes the rapid recovery in travel demand to the visa-free policy between Korea and China, along with a growing preference for short overseas trips. The shift in travel patterns from group tours to individual and small group travel has also contributed positively, as travelers seek to enjoy local culture through culinary experiences and sightseeing.
Notably, the increase in travelers from the 20s and 30s age groups has been pronounced. From January to July, over 158,500 passengers in this age group used the Chinese routes, accounting for 37.1% of total passengers. Popular routes among younger travelers included Busan to Shanghai (Pudong), Jeju to Beijing (Daxing), and Incheon to Qingdao, with load factors of 89.0%, 89.7%, and 93.5%, respectively.
In response to the growing demand, Jeju Air is also considering expanding its Chinese routes. The airline plans to review the increase in flights and operations for routes from Busan to Guilin and Shanghai, Daegu to Shanghai, and Jeju to Chengdu and Chongqing, for which it received route allocations from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in April.
A Jeju Air official stated, "We will enhance the competitiveness of our Chinese routes by flexibly operating based on travel demand from both Incheon and regional airports."
As of August, Jeju Air operates 11 routes to China, including Incheon to Qingdao, Weihai, Yanji, Harbin, Jiamusi, Shijiazhuang, and Busan to Shanghai (Pudong), Shijiazhuang, Zhangjiajie, as well as Jeju to Beijing (Capital) and Beijing (Daxing).
* This article has been translated by AI.
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