Jeju Air said Thursday it has marked the 17th anniversary of its international service, reporting 62.85 million cumulative international passengers and average annual growth of 27.5%.
The airline began scheduled international flights on March 20, 2009, launching the Incheon-Osaka route as South Korea’s first low-cost carrier to operate a regular international service.
After about 159,000 passengers in its first year, Jeju Air expanded steadily. In 2012, it carried about 1.19 million international passengers, ushering in what it called the “1 million annual international passengers” era.
As it added routes to Japan, Southeast Asia and greater China, the airline’s cumulative international passenger total surpassed 10 million in 2016 and topped 50 million in 2024.
As of the end of February this year, cumulative international passengers stood at about 62.858 million, maintaining average annual growth of 27.5% since 2009, the company said.
Jeju Air also increased its network from seven weekly flights on the Incheon-Osaka route in 2009 to 58 international routes now, serving destinations including Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia and greater China.
Japan routes carried more than 4 million passengers last year, the company said, its best result on record. Southeast Asia routes also posted their strongest performance since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 360,000 foreign tourists using the services.
The Incheon-Osaka route, Jeju Air’s first international service, has grown from one daily flight at launch to seven a day. The company said that is the highest frequency among airlines operating Korea-Japan routes. Passenger traffic on the route rose from about 73,000 in 2009 to about 574,000 in 2025.
A Jeju Air official said the carrier has helped shift the market toward consumers and broaden access to air travel over the past 17 years, adding that it aims to strengthen South Korea’s aviation competitiveness through “healthy competition.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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