Jeju Air Expands China Routes... "Increased Flights on Weihai Route"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Jeju Air announced that starting from the 6th, it will increase the frequency of flights on the Incheon-Weihai route from once a week to twice a week.

Jeju Air resumed operations on the Incheon-Yanji route once a week on the 10th of last month, and on the Incheon-Harbin route once a week on the 18th of the same month. From this day, the Incheon-Weihai route will be increased to twice a week, operating a total of four Korea-China flights weekly.

Prior to this, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport agreed with the Chinese government in September to expand the number of Korea-China flights from the existing 15 times per week to 31 times per week. Jeju Air secured the right to operate an additional three flights per week.

Jeju Air’s Incheon-Weihai route departs Incheon International Airport at 10:30 AM every Tuesday and Wednesday (local time) and arrives in Weihai at 10:50 AM. From Weihai, the flight departs at 11:50 AM and arrives in Incheon at 2:00 PM.

Jeju Air plans to operate 2,910 international flights in December this year, recovering to 65% of the 4,497 flights operated in December 2019 before COVID-19. The recovery of international flights is expected to accelerate in the fourth quarter of this year, raising expectations for improved performance.

A Jeju Air official said, “With the increase in Weihai flights, we have fully utilized the additional flight allocation granted by the government,” adding, “We expect the expansion of China routes, which were difficult to operate due to COVID-19 quarantine regulations, to improve convenience in air travel.”

Meanwhile, the Chinese government shortened the quarantine period for overseas arrivals from 7 days to 5 days starting November 11. It also eased foreign entry regulations by reducing the required PCR tests from two within 48 hours before boarding to one.