Domestic ridership reaches 3.64 million, international 6.49 million

Japan routes up 29%, China up 34% year-on-year; Incheon-Narita load factor hits 94.3%

A Jejuair Boeing 737-8 aircraft [Jejuair]
A Jejuair Boeing 737-8 aircraft [Jejuair]

Jejuair's cumulative passenger count this year crossed the 10 million mark, driven by expanded international capacity on Japan and China routes that pushed ridership more than 13 percent above last year's level in the first nine months of 2026.

The budget carrier said Monday that it carried about 10.13 million passengers on domestic and international routes combined from January through September — the fastest pace among South Korean low-cost carriers and a record for that nine-month period.

Domestic routes accounted for about 3.64 million passengers and international routes for about 6.49 million. Total ridership rose by about 1.17 million, or 13.1 percent, compared with roughly 8.96 million passengers in the same period last year.

Japan and China routes drove the growth. Jejuair carried about 3.70 million passengers on Japan routes in the first nine months of the year, up 29.1 percent from a year earlier, with Japan accounting for roughly 57 percent of all international passengers.

China route ridership also climbed 34.1 percent over the same period, rising from about 434,300 passengers to about 582,400.

To meet rising demand, Jejuair expanded capacity on key Japan routes. In May it added flights on the Incheon–Tokyo (Narita), Incheon–Fukuoka and Busan–Osaka routes, and in June it launched daily service on the Incheon–Kobe route. During the summer holiday season in July and August, it also increased frequencies on the Incheon–Nagoya and Incheon–Matsuyama routes.

The airline pursued a similar strategy in China. After boosting capacity on the Incheon–Weihai route in March, it expanded service to Yanji in July and Qingdao in September. Last month it opened a new Busan–Guilin route and resumed Incheon–Guilin service.

Seats were nearly full across the network. Jejuair's overall average load factor this year stood at 91 percent. Among international routes, Incheon–Tokyo (Narita) posted the highest load factor at 94.3 percent, followed by Incheon–Da Nang at 93.4 percent, Incheon–Fukuoka at 93.2 percent, Incheon–Qingdao at 93.1 percent and Incheon–Nha Trang at 93 percent.

In terms of absolute passenger numbers, the Incheon–Osaka route was the busiest, carrying about 633,600 passengers from January through September, followed by Incheon–Tokyo (Narita) with about 618,700. Incheon–Fukuoka ranked third with about 448,100, ahead of Busan–Osaka with about 212,000 and Incheon–Nagoya with about 203,400.

Japan route expansion will continue into winter. Jejuair plans to launch daily Incheon–Kagoshima service on Oct. 25 and daily Incheon–Hakodate service from Dec. 1.

"As high fuel prices and a weak won have increased the cost burden on travelers, demand appears to be shifting toward short- and medium-haul routes that offer relatively affordable travel," a Jejuair official said. "We plan to closely monitor market demand next year and continue expanding customer options through efficient route operations."


kwater@heraldcorp.com