Airline Industry Anxious Over New COVID Variant... Increasing Flights Instead of New Routes

On the 13th, overseas arrivals are receiving transportation guidance at the arrival hall of Terminal 2, Incheon International Airport. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, the total number of confirmed domestic cases increased by 1,990 to 220,182. There are 1,913 locally transmitted cases and 77 imported cases. Photo by Mo Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] As the domestic aviation industry was preparing to resume international flights in the era of With Corona, it is now concerned about a reduction in air routes due to the emergence of the COVID-19 'Omicron variant virus'. The aviation industry is taking a cautious stance, planning to expand flights mainly on existing routes while closely monitoring the situation.

According to the aviation industry on the 28th, Korean Air plans to operate 141 flights per week on 39 international routes next month. The number of routes remains the same as this month, but the number of flights has increased by 7. The routes with increased flights are New York by 3, Guam by 2, and Osaka and Mongolia's Ulaanbaatar by 1 each.

Asiana Airlines will also increase the Singapore route from 4 to 5 flights per week, Osaka from 3 to 5, and Fukuoka and Sydney from 1 to 2 flights each. The Guam route will also operate twice a week.

LCCs also plan to expand international flights next month, but whether actual operations will take place remains uncertain.

Jin Air plans to increase the Guam route from 2 to 4 flights per week this month and further increase to daily flights by the end of next month. The Incheon-Osaka route operates once a week, and the Incheon-Bangkok route, which was suspended in May last year due to the COVID-19 situation, is scheduled to operate twice a week starting from the 24th of next month.

From the 15th of next month, Jin Air is considering operating the Incheon-Kota Kinabalu route twice a week and the Incheon-Chiang Mai route in Thailand as well. However, as many countries are announcing lockdown measures again due to the Omicron variant virus, the results of the quarantine authorities' flight approval must be observed.

Jeju Air planned to operate the Busan-Saipan route from the 1st of next month but postponed the operation date to the 15th due to local circumstances. Jeju Air is also reviewing the resumption of the Vietnam Phu Quoc route next month.

The aviation industry is concerned that the normalization of international flights will be delayed due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and the emergence of variants. Currently, Europe has resumed border controls, and countries worldwide are considering travel restrictions in response to the spread of the Omicron virus.