First flew Incheon–Qingdao route in June 2012

Cumulative LCC passengers on China routes reach about 15.38 million as of July

One in three LCC travelers on China routes flew with Jejuair

Jejuair's Boeing 737-8 aircraft [Jejuair]
Jejuair's Boeing 737-8 aircraft [Jejuair]

Jejuair announced Monday that cumulative passenger numbers on its China routes have surpassed 5 million since the carrier launched scheduled service on the Incheon–Qingdao route in June 2012.

According to the Korea Aviation Association, cumulative passengers carried by South Korean low-cost carriers on China routes totaled about 15.38 million from April 2010 — when domestic LCCs first began flying to China — through July this year. Of that figure, about 5.18 million flew with Jejuair, meaning one in three LCC passengers on China routes chose the carrier.

After launching on the Incheon–Qingdao route on June 22, 2012, Jejuair steadily expanded its presence in China by adding services including the Incheon–Weihai and Incheon–Jiamusi routes.

Jejuair has also helped lower the barrier to travel to China by offering competitive fares. On the Incheon–Qingdao route, passenger numbers rose 35.2 percent to about 121,300 in the third quarter of 2012 — the first full quarter after the carrier's launch — compared with about 89,700 in the same period a year earlier. The Incheon–Weihai route similarly saw a 36 percent increase in its first full quarter of operation, with about 51,400 passengers in the third quarter of 2013 versus about 37,800 in the third quarter of 2012.

Among the Chinese destinations Jejuair serves, Weihai has drawn the most passengers, with about 1,463,700 travelers over roughly 13 years of service. Qingdao followed with about 1.31 million, then Beijing (Capital/Daxing) with about 335,000 and Yanji with about 303,900.

Passenger numbers on Jejuair's China routes continue to climb. Through July this year, the carrier transported about 427,800 passengers on those routes, surpassing the approximately 423,100 recorded over the same period in 2019, when China-route traffic was at its peak.

Jejuair plans to keep expanding its China operations. Starting Sept. 23, the carrier will launch a new service on the Busan–Guilin route — allocated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport — operating four times a week on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The airline is also preparing to increase frequencies and launch service on the Busan/Daegu–Shanghai and Jeju–Chengdu/Chongqing routes before the end of the year.

"Since launching our China routes, we have improved access to travel in China through competitive fares and network expansion," a Jejuair official said. "Going forward, we will continue to organically link our China routes with domestic services such as Incheon–Jeju to meet diverse travel demand and broaden consumer choice."

Meanwhile, Jejuair's international transit passenger numbers reached about 106,600 from January through July this year, up 18.4 percent from about 90,000 in the same period last year. Chinese nationals accounted for the sharpest growth, with transit passengers from China rising to about 27,200 from about 15,600 a year earlier — a 74.3 percent increase, the highest among all nationalities.


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