Busan and Cheongju routes to Xiamen planned before year-end

Service to operate four times a week on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays

Eastar Jet CEO Jo Jung-seok (sixth from right) and other executives pose for a commemorative photo at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday to mark the inaugural flight on the Incheon-Xiamen route. [Eastar Jet]
Eastar Jet CEO Jo Jung-seok (sixth from right) and other executives pose for a commemorative photo at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday to mark the inaugural flight on the Incheon-Xiamen route. [Eastar Jet]

Eastar Jet announced Wednesday that it has launched a new route connecting Incheon and Xiamen, China.

The Incheon-Xiamen service will operate four times a week, on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

To mark the inaugural flight, Eastar Jet held a ceremony at Incheon International Airport attended by CEO Jo Jung-seok and other executives, and presented commemorative gifts to passengers on the first outbound flight to Xiamen.

On the first inbound flight from Xiamen to Incheon, the airline plans to host an origami star-folding event — a nod to the "star" in the Eastar Jet name — as a way to engage with local customers.

Eastar Jet will also become the first and only carrier to launch a Busan-Xiamen route on Thursday, with a Cheongju-Xiamen service also planned before the end of the year.

"Xiamen is a tourist destination known as the 'Hawaii of China,' offering a mild climate year-round and beautiful coastal scenery that draws steady demand from Korean travelers," an Eastar Jet official said. "Alongside that outbound demand, we will also work to attract Chinese tourists to Korea through Chinese social media operations and local promotions."

Meanwhile, Eastar Jet said cumulative passengers on its Incheon-Manado route have reached 90,000 as the service recently marked its first anniversary.

Since June, the Incheon-Manado route has seen a sharp rise in demand, posting load factors of 93 percent in June, 95 percent in July, 96 percent in August and 89 percent in September, for an average of more than 93 percent.

On the strength of that demand, Eastar Jet converted the Incheon-Manado route from charter to scheduled service starting in September.


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