[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Duyul] Air Busan will increase its flights on the Busan-Fukuoka and Osaka routes to twice daily round trips starting from the 17th.
Following the increase from three and four weekly flights to once daily round trips on the Busan-Fukuoka and Busan-Osaka routes since the implementation of Japan's visa-free entry on the 11th, Air Busan will further increase the flights to twice daily round trips.
Air Busan's Busan-Fukuoka route departs from Gimhae International Airport at 9:55 AM and 2:00 PM respectively. The return flights depart from Fukuoka Airport at 11:45 AM and 4:05 PM, arriving at Gimhae Airport at 12:40 PM and 5:05 PM respectively.
The Busan-Osaka route departs from Gimhae International Airport at 8:35 AM and 4:30 PM, while the return flights depart from Osaka Kansai International Airport at 11:00 AM and 6:50 PM, arriving at Gimhae Airport at 12:30 PM and 8:20 PM respectively.
According to Air Busan, the number of passengers on Japan routes has been rapidly increasing since the implementation of Japan's visa-free entry.
Since July, Air Busan has been operating five Japan routes: Incheon-Fukuoka, Incheon-Osaka, Incheon-Narita, Busan-Fukuoka, and Busan-Osaka. While the total number of passengers in July was around 7,721, the total number of passengers on all Japan routes in October is predicted to exceed 50,000.
This represents about a sevenfold increase compared to July, and more than double the 25,071 passengers in September.
An Air Busan official stated that passenger numbers have shown a clear upward trend since the visa-free entry implementation on the 11th, and that November is expected to surpass 100,000 passengers.
With this increase, Air Busan will be the only airline operating twice daily round trips on the Fukuoka and Osaka routes from Gimhae Airport. Both routes have departure flights divided between morning and afternoon, allowing passengers to choose flights according to their travel schedules.
An Air Busan official said, “As demand for travel between Busan and Japan is recovering, we plan additional increases and the resumption of some Japan routes. We will secure our position on Japan routes with Air Busan’s strengths of convenient schedules and reasonable fares.”
Air Busan will also increase the Incheon-Osaka route, which previously operated three times a week, to once daily round trips starting from the 20th.
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