Passengers↑ Load Factor↑ Flights↑, Air Busan Establishes Presence on Incheon Route ... Average Load Factor Tripled

Air Busan A321LR aircraft.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Since Air Busan resumed full-scale operations at Incheon International Airport, the number of passengers has continuously increased, with the average load factor in November rising about threefold compared to May.

Last month, Air Busan operated 7 regular routes and 2 irregular routes from Incheon International Airport, achieving an average load factor of 80% across all routes.

The monthly number of passengers also reached 70,000. This is the highest monthly passenger record since Air Busan operated its first international regular flight from Incheon Airport in November 2019.

After temporarily suspending operations at Incheon Airport in 2020 due to COVID-19, Air Busan resumed full-scale operations from May this year, with both flights and passenger numbers increasing.

The number of flights, which was only 6 in May, increased to 396 last month, and the number of passengers, which was less than 500 in May, reached 70,000 last month.

The number of passengers per flight has increased, leading to a rising load factor.

In May, the average number of passengers per flight departing from Incheon was 78, with a load factor of about 28%, but in November, it increased by about 100 to 176 passengers, raising the average load factor.

Air Busan is expanding flights in line with the growth of routes departing from Incheon.

Since October 30, the number of flights on the Osaka and Narita routes has been increased to twice daily, and the Fukuoka route has also been increased to one round trip daily.

There are also plans to increase flights on Southeast Asian routes; from the 21st, the Incheon-Bangkok route will operate once daily, and the Incheon-Kota Kinabalu route will operate four times a week.

An Air Busan official said, “Beyond being the number one airline at Gimhae Airport, we expect to establish a stable presence in the metropolitan area and anticipate an increase in corporate value following successful route diversification.”