Airlines That Struggled During Vacation Peak "Aim to Capture the Fall Peak Season"

Crafting Handmade Beer and Collaborating with Characters
"A Time When Sky Routes Expand... Attracting Consumers"

On the 12th, as the spread of COVID-19 continued, the domestic terminal of Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, was crowded with travelers. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Airlines, facing underwhelming results during the summer peak season due to the resurgence of COVID-19, have early on begun efforts to attract customers targeting the second half of the year’s peak season.

According to the airline industry on the 14th, Jeju Air is conducting a special discount ticket sale event called ‘JJIM Special’ until 5 PM on the 15th of this month.

The ‘JJIM Special’ tickets, available for 6 domestic routes and 23 international routes including Japan and Southeast Asia, can be used from October 30th this year to March 25th next year based on the boarding date. For international flights, one schedule change fee waiver is offered. Notably, since the ‘JJIM Special’ started at 10 AM on the 9th, about 870,000 people have shown interest, and over 60,000 tickets were sold on the first day alone.

T’way Air is running an ‘Exact Taste’ international special promotion. For three weeks until the 28th, the promotion recommends overseas travel destinations by region according to preferences on its website, mobile app, and web, and sells discounted tickets. The promotion covers a total of 16 routes including Da Nang, Bangkok, Cebu, Japan, Guam, Saipan, and Ulaanbaatar. The boarding period is until October 29th.

Korean Air is holding the second phase of the ‘Skypass Deal’ event, where Skypass mileage can be used, until the 29th. The theme of this event is ‘Preparing for Chuseok with Mileage,’ allowing customers to purchase a total of 24 items including health and filial piety products such as massage devices and red ginseng products using mileage.

Various collaborative events are also underway. Asiana Airlines is selling a craft beer called ‘Asiana Hoppy Lager’ with the message of ‘Travel in Everyday Life.’ Asiana’s craft beer, the first released by a domestic airline, is made in collaboration with convenience store CU and Korea Brewers Collective (KBC), a craft beer manufacturing specialist brand of OB Beer.

Jeju Air is using ‘Janmang Loopy,’ a popular character among the MZ (Millennial + Generation Z) generation, as its brand model. Janmang Loopy is a sub-character exaggerating the mischievous and playful traits of Loopy, a character from the popular animation ‘Pororo the Little Penguin.’ Jeju Air plans to release various products capturing the travel sentiment, such as character model airplanes, travel bags, plush dolls, and stationery.

These airline promotions and collaborative events are interpreted as plans to strengthen consumer engagement and secure airline demand. Additionally, as the summer vacation season coincides with the variable of COVID-19’s resurgence, which has dampened the travel sentiment that had recently revived, these strategies are seen as efforts to recover lower-than-expected performance. An airline industry official said, “Various events can strengthen consumer engagement,” and added, “As international flights are operating, such events to attract consumers will continue.”