"Resumption of 22 Routes Including Gimpo~Haneda and 4 Other International Airports from June"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Starting in June, flights will resume on 22 routes with 136 flights operating 68 times a week at five international airports including Gimpo, Gimhae, and Jeju.

Korea Airports Corporation announced at a regular briefing on the 24th that from next month, the number of routes at five international airports including Gimhae, Jeju, Daegu, and Yangyang will increase from the current 6 to 22, and the number of flights will rise from 11 times a week to 68 times a week.

Specifically, the Gimpo-Haneda route departing from Gimpo Airport will operate 8 times a week (16 flights). Additionally, at Gimhae Airport, flights will operate 38 times a week (67 flights) to and from Qingdao, Guam, Saipan, Guam, Fukuoka, Bangkok, Singapore, Da Nang, Cebu, Manila, Clark, Nha Trang, Hanoi, and Ulaanbaatar. At Jeju Airport, flights to Singapore and Bangkok will operate 5 times a week (10 flights).

Furthermore, at Daegu Airport, four routes to Yanji in China, Da Nang in Vietnam, Bangkok in Thailand, and Cebu in the Philippines will operate 13 times a week. At Yangyang Airport, two routes to Bangkok and Clark in the Philippines will operate 4 times a week.

The Airports Corporation expects international flight demand (excluding Incheon International Airport) to reach 2.52 million passengers this year. This corresponds to 12.4% of the 20,322,272 passengers in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak.

The corporation also expects that from the second half of 2023 to the first half of next year, air travel demand will recover to 2019 levels. Based on external experts and internal demand forecasting models, the corporation projected that if international demand grows slowly, 3.04 million passengers will use the service this year, 8.97 million next year, 17.04 million in 2024, and 25.99 million in 2025.

In particular, if high growth is recorded, it is predicted that 21.32 million passengers will be reached next year, followed by 26.53 million in 2023, 31.91 million in 2024, and 37.85 million in 2025.