Expansion of Gimpo Airport Air Routes... Jeju Air Begins Flights to Kaohsiung, Taiwan

First Flight in 4 Years After Route Allocation
T'way Air Also Scheduled to Operate in the First Half of the Year

International routes will be added to Gimpo Airport. Jeju Air is scheduled to operate a route connecting Gimpo Airport and Kaohsiung, Taiwan starting next month.

According to industry sources on the 20th, Jeju Air will begin operating the Gimpo-Kaohsiung route from the 3rd of next month. This will be the first flight in four years since the route rights were allocated to Jeju Air and T'way Air in May 2020. Jeju Air plans to initially operate three round trips as a trial next month and then review the business feasibility to increase the number of flights in the second half of the year. Originally, T'way Air had announced in November last year that it would launch the same route in March this year but postponed it once. T'way Air intends to start operations in the first half of this year.

As Taiwan has emerged as a popular tourist destination following Japan, it is interpreted that airlines are making a full-scale push into the market. According to aviation statistics from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the number of passengers on Taiwan routes from January to February this year was 827,601, competing for the 4th place in passenger numbers alongside Thailand and the Philippines. According to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Korea ranked 3rd among foreign visitors to Taiwan from January to September last year. It is expected that demand will increase further once the Gimpo-Kaohsiung route is fully operational and accessibility improves.

Industry insiders expect this route to become the ‘three golden routes’ of Gimpo Airport’s international flights, alongside Gimpo-Haneda (Tokyo, Japan) and Gimpo-Osaka (Japan) routes. A representative from an airline explained, "Taipei was already a popular destination before COVID-19, and people seeking a small Japanese city atmosphere are visiting the Kaohsiung area, so new demand could increase significantly."

With the operation of the Kaohsiung route, the number of international routes at Gimpo Airport will increase from six to seven. Since the Seoul Metropolitan Government recently announced the ‘Gimpo Airport Renaissance’ plan to expand international routes at Gimpo Airport, the number of travelers is expected to increase further in the future.